Hearts on Fire
by ShamelessMarysue
Summary: Charlotte Forbes, twin sister of Caroline Forbes, has been having strange dreams. When she has a dream about the new guy at school before she even meets him, she starts to believe her dreams are more than what they seem. As Charlie investigates the strange things happening to her, she is thrust into a world of supernatural intrigue and romance. Damon/OC. Please Review!
1. Episode 1

**Episode 1: The First Day**

_In the real world_

_As in dreams,_

_Nothing is quite_

_As it seems_

-Dean Koontz, The Book Of Counted Sorrow

* * *

**Chicago, 1922**

Rain fell heavy in the alleyway where I was standing. It was so cold I could see puffs of air like white clouds every time I exhaled. My short brunette hair stuck to my face in dark tendrils. I hadn't dressed for the rain, my sleeveless beaded dress left me defenseless against the cold and the rain. I had dressed for the speakeasy, which was raided not that long ago, forcing me outside in the rain. I should go home, but I was holding onto the sliver of hope that my date would come back for me.

I had to hold on to the hope that he wouldn't leave me so soon after we found each other again.

A man joined me in the Rain. I knew him as Stefan Salvatore. He was a new friend of my date's, and he was an old friend of mine.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" He asked. There was a predatory gleam in his eye that I hadn't caught at the time.

I told him I was waiting for my friends.

"I don't think they'll be seeing you again, doll." He replied, stepping closer to me.

I didn't understand the underlying meaning. Didn't Stefan know who I was? He should know I would see him again, even if it took another hundred years.

I turned to Stefan, a correction on my lips, only to be horrified by what I saw.

Stefan had gotten very close to me without me noticing. And he was no longer a man, but a monster. His face was distorted. Thick dark veins surrounded his eyes, which were red as blood, and sharp fangs protruded from his gums. It was the last image I saw before he attacked. The feeling of his fangs ripping into the skin of my neck was the last thing I felt.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

My scream woke me up.

Throwing off my tangled blankets, I got out of bed as quick as I could and grabbed my dream journal. I sat at my desk, and furiously wrote everything I could remember. The problem with dreams is if I didn't write them down, I could forget them. I didn't want to forget my dreams, no matter how bizarre or scary or insignificant.

I've realized for a couple years now that my dreams differed from other people's dreams. My sister had dreams of dating her favorite TV character and had nightmares about coming to school naked. In my dreams, I was always someone from the past, never myself, and no matter how hazy the dream was, it always felt real. Even tonight's dream had me rubbing my neck to make sure I didn't have a bite mark.

"Charlie!" My sister rushed into my room, still in her pajamas. "Are you okay? I heard you scream."

"I'm okay, Care," I said from my desk. "Just a bad dream."

"Another one? You've been having a lot of those lately." Caroline perched herself at the edge of my desk, "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Caroline knew all about how my dreams had been disturbing me, especially after sharing the same room while Elena stayed with us over the summer.

"No," I said, but my sister continued looking at me expecting more. She knew I was lying, just as I knew she was worried we would grow apart. "If I had something I wanted to talk about, you'd be the first to know Care. After all, we shared a womb, you can't get much closer than that."

"Okay!" She smiled, satisfied for the moment, and straighten up, "Well, we better get ready, don't want to be late for the first day of junior year!" Caroline left to get ready and I started to do the same.

I marveled at how different I appeared now than in my dream. Caroline and I were fraternal twins, but we shared the same long blonde hair, albeit mine was wavier. My face was covered in freckles.

Sometimes in my sleep it felt like I've lived a thousand different lives, but in the waking hours I'm still Charlotte Forbes: high school junior. First days still made me nervous. In theory, this year should be the same as the first two, but somehow I felt this year was going to be different.

"Oh, there's Elena," Carolina pointed out. Care and I had arrived to school a few minutes ago and found our new lockers. It appeared Elena and Bonnie had done the same, and were standing up ahead in the hallway. "Should we say something? We should say something. What should we say?"

I was busy sorting through my class books, and putting away the materials I wouldn't need until after lunch.

"You should treat her like normal Care," I started to say, but Caroline was already half way up to hug Elena before I could even finish my sentence. With a sigh I grabbed the books for first and second period, closed my locker, and followed.

"Elena. Oh, my god," Caroline said, hugging Elena, who looked rather reluctant to return the gesture. "How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you." I thought it was kind of funny my sister acted as if we hadn't spent the greater part of the summer sharing our roof with her. "How is she?" Caroline directed her questions at Bonnie now, "Is she good?"

"Caroline," I nudged her lightly, "let the girl speak for herself. How are you, Elena?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." Elena replied, sounding strained.

"Really?" Caroline asked.

"Yes." Elena confirmed, "Much better." She tried to smile, but I could tell it was fake.

"Oh, you poor thing." My sister commented before hugging Elena too tightly. Care could tell it was a fake smile too.

"Okay, Caroline." Elena said as she disentangled herself from my sister's arms.

"Oh! Okay, see you guys later?" Caroline said. Turning to hug me goodbye, she added, "I have a student council meeting to get to."

"I feel like I should be apologizing for her." I said awkwardly once Caroline was out of earshot. "She means well, I swear."

"Honestly, I didn't expect anything less." Elena commented. Caroline and I had known Elena since kindergarten, so when her parents died it was a tragedy for us all

"Well, if you ever need to talk Elena, I'm always here," I reminded.

"Thanks, Charlie." She replied with a sad smile.

As a group we wandered the halls towards our first period class. Bonnie stopped us outside the school office, "Hold up. Who's this?"

Elena and I peeked into the office to see the back of a guy in a leather jacket.

"All I see is back," Elena commented.

"It's a hot back." Bonnie replied. She placed her fingers to her temple, imitating a psychic, "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena laughed.

"Wait, psychic? What are you guys talking about?" I asked, confused. Obviously, I was missing something.

"Bonnie thinks that—" Elena stopped mid sentence as she caught sight of her brother across the hall, "Actually, I got to go." She followed him into the boy's restroom.

"Basically, Grams thinks I'm psychic." Bonnie explained, "weird I know, but apparently our ancestors were witches from Salem."

"And you predicted Obama, and Heath, which I still cry over by the way."

"See? So, I am psychic." She joked.

"Okay, so if you're psychic, predict my future." I shifted the books in my arms and offered my hand, palm up, so she could read it. Bonnie only grazed my hand when she froze.

She stared, eyes wide, at nothing for a few seconds and whispered, "Fire." Then, as if nothing happened, she was back to normal. She pulled her hand away as if she actually touched a flame.

"I'm sorry, did I say anything?" Bonnie looked freaked enough as it was, so I told her no. "I- I think I need some water." She left in a hurry, much too quickly for just a drink of water.

I looked back one last time at the new student. He had finished with the clerk and was walking out. I dropped the books I had been carrying in shock when I saw his face. It was the human face of the monster who killed me in my dream. Swooping down to pick up my books, I hadn't noticed that he bent down to help me until our hands brushed on accident. I pulled away as if shocked by electricity.

"Sorry," He apologized.

"It's okay, Stefan." A second later I realized I shouldn't know his name.

"Have we met before?" He asked, confused.

"No!" I blurted, swiftly adding, "I've got to get to class."

With a sharp turn of my heels, I left as fast as Bonnie had.

After school, I picked up my gardening supplies and went to the cemetery. Elena was already there, sitting by her parents' grave writing in her diary. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to disturb her and I was heading to an older part of the cemetery anyway.

Farther into the cemetery there was a tombstone for Maggie Byrne, a young woman who died in 1864. The tombstone read a quote from Emily Dickinson, _Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality._

I'm not entirely sure why, but I've always felt drawn to this particular grave. I started planting flowers by her tombstone, forget-me-nots mostly, when I started high school, and I've kept up the small garden ever since.

I had just gotten rid of the weeds when a fog rolled in. I stood up, confused by the sudden change in weather. I heard Elena's yell in the distance. Turning to go check on her I ran into the very firm chest of a man.

"Oh, hello there." The man said, smirking down at me. He was very handsome, with raven hair and striking blue eyes. He held me by the arms to steady me and I couldn't help but feel like the embrace was familiar.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I admit it sounded a bit accusatory, but I rarely ran into other people in this part of the cemetery. If I did they were usually teenagers looking for a spot to drink or to do drugs. Besides, I couldn't quite place why he seemed so familiar.

"Visiting my dearly departed, it is a cemetery." He said as if it was obvious, but his eyes, which sparkled mischievously, belied that he had other intentions.

"Well, unless you're looking for someone who died in the civil war, I doubt they're over here." I stepped back gesturing to the tombstones around us bearing death dates in the 1860's.

"Must have gotten lost in the fog then." He said this with a level of mirth that implied he knew something I did not. He offered a hand, "Damon Salvatore."

"Charlotte Forbes, but everyone calls me Charlie," I introduced myself, taking the proffered hand, but Damon didn't shake it like I thought he would. Instead, he raised my knuckles to his lips and kissed them.

"Charlotte," He started, as if testing the word out. The sound of my full name from him sent shivers up my spine. "I'm lost, but what were you doing in this part of the cemetery?"

"Gardening." I replied, slightly embarrassed now.

"Gardening? In the cemetery?"

"I thought it was poetic, bringing forth life from death."

"Sound's a little morbid to me." Damon walked over to Maggie's tombstone. Looking at the flowers flourishing around it, his hand stroked the stone tenderly, as if he had actually known her.

"No it's not." I said, his focus was back on me now. "I chose her grave for my garden because I thought it was sad. This cemetery is littered with the ancestors of founding families. Even the older ones like these get visitors on certain celebrations. Maggie is the only Byrne buried here. So no one visits, or tells stories of her, and that seemed like a lonely afterlife. So I visit, and plant flowers so she knows she's not forgotten."

"You are a strange girl Charlotte Forbes. And I mean that in the best way possible." Damon had moved closer to me. I stayed rooted in my spot transfixed by his blue eyes.

Our gaze was broken by my phone alerting me to a new text message. Reluctantly, I checked the message. It was from my sister and apparently everyone was meeting up at the Grill. When I looked back up Damon Salvatore was gone.

I sipped a soda, sitting with my sister at the bar of the Mystic Grill. She was telling me everything she had learned about Stefan that day. If it wasn't for the fact I dreamt he killed me the night before I would have thought my sister's crush was cute.

It wasn't the first time my dreams had images of someone I knew. I've had several dreams involving girls that looked like Elena, but this was different. Elena wasn't Elena in my dreams, I always recognized that she was a different person than the girl I'd known since kindergarten. But I had the dream before I met Stefan, and I knew it was him I had dreamt of. What if Stefan really was a monster?

"Not to rain on your June wedding or anything, Care. But I just don't see it." I took a long sip of my soda.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Like I don't get why everyone's so gaga over the new guy, I don't think he's that hot," I said. Of course I could tell Stefan was attractive, but I knew somehow he was more dangerous than he appeared.

Caroline gasped in response. "Who are you and what have you done with my twin?"

"I guess he's just not my type." I shrugged.

"Then who is?"

"Well, I did meet someone today." I admitted, blushing.

"Spill!" Caroline said excitedly.

"It's probably nothing. We met at the cemetery."

"Classic meet-cute." She said encouragingly.

"His name is Damon. He's got dark hair, a killer jawline, and the bluest eyes I've ever seen." Caroline hummed appreciatively. "But he's a little bit older than us."

"So you like them more experienced." Caroline smiled suggestively, "You are my sister after all."

"Stop." I blushed harder, if possible.

Then Stefan entered the Grill with Elena and we joined them at a table with Matt and Bonnie. It seemed everyone was going to take the opportunity to question the new guy. But I felt bad for Matt, he still held hope that Elena was going to get back with him. It was obvious to everyone, except Caroline, that Elena had her eyes on Stefan, and Stefan was returning the favor.

"Any siblings?" Elena asked.

"None that I talk to." He replied "I live with my uncle."

"Any relation to Damon Salvatore?" I asked.

"He's my brother," Stefan said, suddenly seeming paler. I had the sinking feeling that if Stefan was a monster, maybe Damon was too. But monsters weren't actually real, right?

"But like I said I don't talk to him," Stefan continued. He focused on me, his eyes roving over me as if checking for injuries. "How exactly do you know Damon?"

"I met him today actually, at the cemetery."

"Really?" Elena said quietly, "Stefan and I were at the cemetery today too. Must have missed you."

"So, Stefan, if you're new," Caroline segued, "then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"I'm sure Stefan doesn't want to go…" Elena said.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie added.

"Are you going?" Stefan asked Elena, making it plain that he would go if she was.

"Of course she is." Bonnie answered for her.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1861**

In this dream, I was a maid employed by the Salvatore household. Locks of my curly red hair danced in the wind even with it tied up in a head wrap. I was finishing with the laundry, hanging the sheets to dry. Damon and Stefan were playing catch nearby. I could hear their banter and it made me smile to see the brothers getting along. Someone had thrown the ball too far and it landed by my feet.

Picking it up I looked at the two brothers staring at me expectantly.

"Maggie! Throw it back." Damon requested. I didn't think it would be proper for me to play boys' games at my age. I looked around us to check that no one was watching.

"I'll give it back." I said, getting a good grip on the ball, "but, you'll have to catch me first." I shot off towards the trees behind me. I could hear a single set of feet racing after me.

It was hard running in a long dress, and he quickly caught up to me.

"I've got you," Damon said, wrapping his arms around my torso. Amongst the trees we were alone.

"It appears you do," I wiggled out of his embrace so I could turn around. I offered him the ball, "Here's your prize."

He took the ball and threw it behind him. Damon stepped closer to me and on instinct I stepped back until my back hit the bark of a tree.

"I can think of a better one," Damon whispered before his lips descended on mine.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

I awoke begrudgingly by the sound of a raven cawing at my window. Not all of my dreams were so pleasant. It was dark out, but I could still see the bird sitting on my window sill. I got up and shooed the bird away, closing and locking the window as it flew off.

I sat back on my bed, journal in hand. It was nights like these that made me think sometimes dreams are just dreams. I met a cute guy, and I dreamed up a scenario where we kissed. Except I wasn't me in my own dream, I was Maggie Byrne. The girl on the gravestone.

Caroline and I got to the falls early to help with set up, so by the time the party was in full swing we'd both had more than a few drinks in us.

"Oh, look Stefan's here." Caroline said.

"Great." I said, sarcasm dripping off the word.

"I know you don't like him for some bizarre reason, but I do. So play nice, please? For me, your favorite sister in the whole world."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled.

"You're my only sister." But the words seemed hollow for some reason. I glanced at Stefan and saw him watching Elena. I sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt over a guy who clearly has already chosen who he wants."

"What are you talking about? He's still fair game."

"Okay, Caroline." I didn't want to argue anymore. "Whatever you say." Caroline went over to grab Stefan and I tried to hide the sour expression on my face before she dragged him towards me.

"Stefan, you've met my twin, Charlie." Caroline said.

"You're twins?" Stefan said with the same amount of surprise we've heard from everyone. It seemed the Forbes girls were similar enough in appearance to be sisters, but everyone expected twins to be identical.

"Fraternal, obviously, Caroline got all the good looks." I replied for my sisters benefit.

Caroline giggled.

"Oh stop it, we're both smokin'." Caroline went behind the fold-able table where all the drinks were stashed, pulling out a couple beer bottles. "So, Stefan," she began, "how are you liking your return to Mystic Falls? Find anything interesting, or anyone?"

Caroline wasn't going to listen to anything I had to say, and the sight of my sister flirting with a guy who was obviously not interested made me want to gag. So I left them alone to join the rest of the party.

"Hey Matt." I greeted. Matt was standing by himself and staring off ahead. I looked back to see he was looking at Elena. "Don't do that to yourself Matty."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He was still looking at her, but then Stefan joined her. Matt's jaw clenched and his hand tightened around his red solo cup.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Elena." I took in a deep breath before continuing, "and this probably isn't what you want to hear, but she isn't going to get back with you. She's moved on and you should too."

"You're right, that isn't what I want to hear."

"Oh, come on Matt," I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him toward a crowd of dancing teenagers.

"What are you doing?"

"Making you dance with me! You need to get your mind off of Elena and on to the dance floor."

"I don't feel like dancing."

"Oh come on, please?" I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, "For me?"

"Fine." Matt gave in, reluctantly following me.

After dancing for a while I took a break, leaning against one of the trees on the edge of the party.

"Boo." I jumped at the voice suddenly in my ear.

"Oh my god, Damon! You scared me half to death." I placed my hand over my racing heart. It seemed like my heart was never going to slow down with how close Damon was to me, smirking with that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I wondered if he could her my heartbeat.

"What are you doing over here? The party's over there." He pointed off to the throng of dancing drunk teenagers.

"Taking a break, what are you doing here?" I asked back, "Aren't you a little old to be hanging out at a high school party?"

"I'm looking out for my brother." He said, "We don't have the best relationship, but I'm trying to mend it."

"Then what are you doing over here with me? Why aren't you talking to him?"

"Because he doesn't want anything to do with me. Besides, I find you...interesting, Charlotte." Damon leaned over me now, putting his hands up against the tree effectively caging me between his arms. I flushed, suddenly reminded of my dream last night. I stared into his eyes, they seemed to dilate but it must have been a trick of the light. "Kiss me."

I pushed up on my tippy toes almost about to kiss him, like Maggie had in my dream, but I stopped. This was too soon, I didn't know Damon, even if I was already kissing him in my dreams. I fell back down on my heels.

"I might have a few drinks in me Damon, but I'm not that drunk. And I don't kiss before the first date. You're gonna have to buy me dinner first." At first Damon seemed confused, but the expression didn't last very long before it darkened.

"I guess I will. See you later, Charlotte." He lifted one had off the tree, freeing me, but the other was trailing down my arm. I closed my eyes at the sensation, when I opened them Damon was gone.

I walked back to the party in a bit of a haze. That whole interaction was...strange.

"Charlie, Hi." Stefan said as I almost ran into him.

"Oh, hi Stefan." I said, the awkwardness evident in my voice.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"You just did, but go for it." I replied.

"When you saw my brother, did he do or say anything to you?" I was caught off guard, did Stefan know I was inches away from making out with his brother, or was he referring to earlier that week at the cemetery?

"No," I said nervously.

"Please, Charlie," Stefan said, and it looked as if his eyes were dilating as well. Maybe it's genetic, I thought. "Tell me what did Damon—"

"Hey! There you are." Caroline said, interrupting whatever Stefan was going to ask. She shot me a look that hinted to leave.

"I'm gonna go...by the bonfire." I said, leaving them alone.

I sat down on a log in front of the fire. I hypothesized my sister would be here soon, right after Stefan turned her down. A moment later I was right. Caroline plopped down next to me. We stared into the fire in silence for a few moments, my arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Don't you dare say I told you so." She finally said.

"Don't have to," I quipped, "you did it for me."

Caroline laughed, but if only to keep herself from crying.

"You're fantastic, you know that right?" I started, "You're beautiful and smart, and you are too good for these small town boys, okay? You are going to meet someone handsome and intelligent, a real prince. And he is going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, with kindness and respect."

"Who's that?" Caroline asked, looking at someone from across the bonfire. I tried to see who she was talking about, but I didn't see anyone.

"Somebody help!" Elena screamed from the edge of the trees.

The whole party stopped when Jeremy and Elena brought a bleeding Vicki out from the woods. I looked for Stefan in the ensuing chaos, but he was already gone.

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked my very drunk sister. We sat down in a booth at Mainline Coffee, drinking coffee to sober up.

"No." Caroline answered, staring into the murky depths of her drink. I was sitting next to her, already very sober after the events of the night, rubbing circles on her back.

"Keep drinking," Bonnie ordered. "I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home."

"Thanks for helping me with her Bonnie, I really appreciate it." I said, sipping my own black coffee.

"There's no way I could let you bring her home to the Sheriff like this."

"Why didn't he go for me?" Caroline suddenly asks, "You know, how come the guys that I want never want me."

"I'm not touching that." Bonnie said looking at me.

"You just haven't met the right guy for you yet, that's all." I said.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing." Caroline complained, "and...Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and...I'm never the one."

"It's not a competition, Caroline." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, it is." Caroline complained, "Even with my own sister."

"When did I become a part of this?" I asked, "I've never even had a boyfriend."

"But you could. I've seen the way boys look at you." Caroline was getting increasingly more upset. "You always do everything so perfect, without even trying, and I work so hard but it seems like no matter what I do it's not good enough."

"What are you talking about, Caroline?" I laughed, "Who cares about high school boys? You're on track to be valedictorian, you're the captain of the cheerleading team and school council president. You're so much better than them."

"Then why did Dad choose you?" She suddenly asked.

"What?"

"You two should continue this conversation alone," Bonnie said, excusing herself, "I'll be in the car."

"Dad didn't choose me over you, Caroline. He loves us both. He just needs time to grow on his own."

"Then why did he ask you to move with him and not me." Caroline said, sounding more sober than she had all night. "I heard him, the day he left home. He offered you to go with him, but he never offered that to me."

"Well, then he's a jerk. But it's not my fault Caroline. I didn't ask him to do that, and I didn't accept his offer. I chose to stay with my sister." I squeezed her hand in comfort before standing up. "I gotta go to the restroom then we'll head out. We're okay, right?"

I didn't leave until my sister nodded.


	2. Episode 2

**Episode 2: The Comet Festival**

_She was afraid of heights,_

_But she was much more afraid_

_Of never flying_

-Atticus

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

I was Maggie Byrne again. My flaming red hair sprawled across Damon's pillow. We laid naked in bed as the early morning light shone through the window. There was a commotion outside, a carriage riding up to the estate.

"Oh no! I'm late!" I said, sitting up suddenly and reaching for my clothes.

"Come back to bed," Damon said, snaking his arm around to fondle my breast. I playfully smacked it away.

"Stop that." I scolded, "You know I'm supposed to be down there helping your father's guest."

"I'll just tell him you were too busy helping me instead." Damon flashed a dazzling charming smile. That familiar twinkle was in his eye.

"You are dangerous Damon Salvatore." I detangled from him, getting out of bed and pulling on my clothes. Damon got up more leisurely and went straight for the window.

"She's pretty." Damon noted of the newcomer.

"Prettier than me?" I asked.

"No. No one's prettier than you."

"How sweet." I finished with the laces of my dress and joined Damon at the window. The woman Giuseppe was hosting was indeed beautiful, she was also familiar.

"Katerina," I whispered, surprised.

"I believe Giuseppe said her name was Katherine Pierce." Damon corrected.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

That morning I was greeted in the kitchen by my mother dressed in her uniform.

"Going to work this early?" Mom had worked late last night. But I suppose a sheriffs work is never done.

"Some campers are missing, I'm going in to help search for them." She poured herself a travel mug of coffee.

"Do you think they'll be alive?" I asked, setting out breakfast for Caroline and I.

"I don't know." She replied, "There was some blood found around the campsite."

"Could it be the same thing that attacked Vicki Donovan?" I asked. All I could imagine though was Stefan Salvatore attacking me with fangs.

"So far that's our best guess. But we won't know for sure until we find them. You and Caroline stay safe okay? And stay away from the woods."

"Got it mom, you stay safe too."

"Love you." She said, kissing the top of my head.

"Love you too!" I called as she left.

"I'm confused." Caroline said to Bonnie between classes, "Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Neither, she's a witch." I corrected.

"Yes." Bonnie confirmed, "Apparently, my ancestors were these cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline joked.

"Oh right, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome that neither Bonnie nor I actually saw. Are you sure he wasn't actually a ghost?" I asked. Once she woke up that morning Caroline couldn't stop talking about this hot guy she saw last night. But neither I nor Bonnie had any idea who she was talking about.

"Why didn't you just talk to him?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. I was drunk." She shrugged.

After school, Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and I met at the Mystic Grill to talk about the plans for the comet festival and fold programs, since Caroline convinced us to volunteer. But naturally the conversation moved on to other subjects…

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom." Bonnie said, "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline dismissed. Then turning to Elena, said, "So then what?"

"So then nothing." Elena said.

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline said in disbelief, "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

Or biting, I thought.

"Nope. We didn't go there." Elena said.

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline said in disbelief, "I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."

"You can ignore her, that's what I usually do." I said, grinning as Caroline threw a fry at me.

"We just talked for hours." Elena reiterated.

"I think it's good you're taking things slow." I told her honestly. There was less of a chance for her to get hurt.

"No it's not," Caroline objected, "What is with the blockage? Jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

"Profound." Elena said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline's right." Elena said, "It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do."

"I'll go with you." I said, getting up too. At the looks my friends gave I added, "You know, for moral support."

"Please, Charlie's just hoping to catch a glimpse of Stefan's hot older brother." Caroline called out. I blushed because she wasn't entirely wrong, but I really thought she shouldn't go alone to the Vampire's den.

"That's Okay, Charlie. I should do this alone." Elena said, declining my offer.

I went by the Salvatore boarding house anyway after dropping Caroline off at home. I didn't see Elena's car there when I drove up, so I hoped that was a good sign. I knocked a few times with no answer, but on my last knock the door fell open.

"Okay, not creepy at all." I said, steeling my nerve and pushing the door open more. "Is anyone home?" I called out.

"What are you doing here?" A guy I had never met asked, coming out from the back hall. He must be Stefan's 'uncle'.

"Oh um, sorry for barging in, I'm Charlotte Forbes. I was looking for…"

"Me." Damon said, walking down stairs. "I've got it from here Zach. Why don't you scidattle."

Zach looked unsure, but I wouldn't mind a chance to speak with Damon alone. Even if he was a vampire too, as Zach's expression hinted.

"I'll be okay, Zach." I reassured him.

"As much as I want to believe I'm the reason you came all this way. Why are you really here?" Damon said as he walked up to me.

"I wanted to check on Elena." I replied, "I know she came by to visit earlier. She hasn't replied back to my texts yet."

"Just missed her." Damon's head tilted, "Why so worried for your friend?"

"Honestly? I don't trust Stefan."

"How refreshing, Someone doesn't trust St. Stefan."

"Well, he's new and we don't know anything about him. For all we know he could be a serial killer." I said. Of course the same could be said for Damon, but I felt comfortable around him, perhaps too comfortable.

Damon laughed and he had that sparkle in his eye, as if he knew something I didn't. It was becoming obvious to me that Damon felt like he always knew something everyone else didn't.

"I also wanted to check out the Salvatore boarding house." I said, walking around the Salvatore house until I reached the library.

"Never been inside?"

"Nope." I ran my fingertips over the spines of books. They really did have an impressive collection. "This place was built after the civil war, right? The original Salvatore Estate was burned during the civil war."

"You sure know your history." Damon added, "There were a lot of fires around that time in Mystic Falls."

"It's really beautiful in here." I commented.

"Bit kitschy for my tastes." Damon commented.

"Do you ever feel like, even though it's the first time you've meet someone, it's like you've known them forever," I said suddenly. It was a feeling I had a lot lately.

"I can understand that feeling." Damon said. He was getting closer to me and I thought he might be trying to kiss me again. Maybe I was ready this time.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked breaking the tension, he was at the top of the staircase.

"Looking for Elena." I said, stepping away from Damon. He looked annoyed at Stefan's untimely presence. "Obviously, she's not here though…" There was a ding from my phone, it was Elena returning my text. "Oh look that's her. So I'm just going to go…Bye, Damon! Bye, Stefan!"

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1863**

"Are you sure you have to go?" I said. Damon Salvatore was preparing his horse to join the confederate army. Neither of us wanted him to go, but it was Giuseppe's wish for his son to join the fight and Damon wanted to please his father.

"Yes, yes I'm sure." Damon nodded, his jaw clenched. It was a hard decision and ultimately not one he made himself. Just one he had to live with.

"But I know you Damon, I know in your heart you're not on the confederates side."

"Nothing I can do about that Mags."

I held onto Damon's hand.

"Please, just promise me you'll come back. Don't let this war take you."

"I promise." He said, lifting my hand to his lips, leaving a sweet kiss there. "I love you, Maggie."

"I love you too, Damon."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

I was walking with Bonnie and Elena through the town square, handing out programs for tonight's Comet Festival.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked. Elena was telling us about her visit with the Salvatore's yesterday.

"Or text." Elena added, "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie pointed out.

"Maybe it's a sign." I offered, "You did say Stefan was acting really strange when you visited."

"Give the guy a break, he was caught off guard." Bonnie defended.

"Why does he need to be 'on guard'?" I asked her.

"The timing is wrong, anyway." Elena interjected.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie said.

"Didn't Damon mention something about Stefan being on the rebound." I pointed out. "What was the other girls name? Katerina?"

"Katherine." Elena corrected. Bonnie was going to say something but Elena cut her off, "I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?" Bonnie retorted.

"At least I put myself out there," Elena said.

"Is that what you're calling it? All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie told Elena, but she gave me a very pointed look as well.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked me later, while Elena had split off to hand out more programs.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied coyly.

"Why are you being so negative about Stefan?" She asked. "Don't you think Elena deserves to be happy?"

"Of course I do Bonnie." I said, "I just don't think Stefan's the right guy for her, that's all."

"Why not?"

"It's a feeling," I told her, " I get a bad vibe from him."

"Charlie, you're starting to sound like my Grams now."

"You honestly don't feel anything off with him?" I asked incredulously, she was supposed to be a witch!

"No, I don't." Bonnie said, not sounding too sure of herself.

**The Comet ****Festival**

"Hey, we got some candles." Caroline said as we met up with Elena and Bonnie. I handed a candle to Bonnie while Caroline gave her extra one to Elena. We found Matt with his candle already lit. He lit my candle first.

"Thanks Matty." I said. I turned around to light my sister's candle.

"Look who Elena found." She whispered. I turned to see Elena lighting Stefan's candle.

"Well don't stare." I hooked arms with my sister and lead her away from the romantic duo, "Come on I know a great spot to watch the comet."

"There it is: the harbinger of doom and gloom." Caroline said as we looked at the comet over head. We sat on a bench in the square.

"I don't believe Bonnie's Gram on that one," I said. "I think it's just a ball of snow and ice that's been traveling alone for thousands of years and every 145 years or so it checks back in with us. Anything bad that happens to occur around that time is coincidence. Humans like to give meaning to everything."

"Humans?" Caroline raised a brow, "What are you an alien?"

I snorted.

"If I am so are you." I nudged her playfully with my shoulder.

We settled and stared up at the sky together, watching the comet.

"It really is beautiful though," I sighed.

I had to use the restroom at the Grill and as I came out, saw Damon sitting alone at the bar.

"You're missing the festival." I said, sitting next to Damon, placing my now unlit candle on the tabletop.

"I've got all the festival I need right here," Damon smirked, holding up a glass of whiskey.

I looked at Damon for a moment, mulling over what it was I wanted to say.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" I finally asked.

Damon smiled into his whiskey, amused like it was part of some inside joke.

"No." He said, taking a sip of his drink. "Why?"

I probably shouldn't be mentioning my dreams, but I had to tell someone. There were all these emotions welling up, it was like there was a force telling me to speak.

"This might sound crazy, but I've been having dreams about you... and Maggie."

"Maggie?" Damon sounded almost wistful as he said her name, but he quietly shook himself out of it, "Who?"

"Maggie Byrne." I repeated, "The girl on the tombstone, who died in 1864?"

"You're right. That does sound crazy." His words were dismissive, but Damon had put his drink down and looked at me seriously. "I know I'm older than you, but I'm not that old." His eyes narrowed as he asked, "What exactly happens in these dreams?"

I flushed, suddenly embarrassed.

"Well there's you and Maggie, of course, except I feel like I'm Maggie. There was some kissing. And maybe I'm just projecting from that day at the cemetery... You were dressed as a confederate soldier in the last one. It was all so 'Gone With the Wind.'"

"And what does Maggie look like in your dreams?"

"She had wild curly red hair, blue eyes, and creamy pale skin covered in freckles. Why?"

"Just curious." He shrugged.

"Well, I've made this awkward. Just forget I ever said anything. I'm heading back out to watch the comet. Once every 145 years is kind of a once in a lifetime thing, right?"

"Right." He said, picking his drink up again.

I walked out of the Grill, passing Vicki as she walked in. She had a big bandage on her neck to cover the stitches, but she looked better.

"Hi, Vicki. Glad to see you're out and about." I said in passing.

After the festival everyone hung out at the Grill. Jeremy came in looking for Vicki. Apparently he couldn't find her, and then a bunch of drama involving pills and Jeremy and Vicki hooking up enfolded. The drama made people forget for a moment that she was missing.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt said, quieting everyone.

"I'll check the back." Bonnie said.

"I'll check the square." Matt said.

"We'll help check the square too." I said, pulling my sister with me.

Jeremy tried to join us but Elena held him back. It was time for her to have a serious talk with her brother.

"Leave it to the druggies to open up their drama to everyone." Caroline said as we searched the town square opposite of Matt.

"Care!" I said, scandalized, "It's Matt's sister."

"So? Matt knows his sister's got problems. We've all got issues, but you don't see me laying out our family drama in the town square do you?"

"Do you even remember that drunken conversation we had about dad at the coffee place the other night?"

Caroline stopped us both, her eyes wide as she remembered pieces of that night.

"Oh my god, please tell me I wasn't loud." She sounded mortified.

"So loud. Practically yelling," I teased. "But that's good. We needed to get it out."

"Not in public!" It was Caroline's turn to feel scandalized. She groaned. "What did I even say?"

"You brought up dad asking me to move with him," I said quietly, "But you forgot to mention the most important part of that conversation."

"What's that?"

"I chose _you_." I said. Caroline smiled and we hugged tightly. "He's a jerk for picking one of us over the other Care. But I don't need him, I just need you."

"Okay." Caroline said, sniffling. We hugged it out a second longer before Care released me. "We should split up to find Vicki. We'll cover more ground."

After walking for a few minutes I heard a scream from above. On top of a nearby rooftop I saw Vicki, along with Stefan and Damon. I was trying to see what they were doing up there, but it was impossible from the ground. I felt a rush of warmth, like a summer's breeze wrapping around me. The sensation caused me to close my eyes and when I opened my eyes again I was on top of the roof.

"What the hell?" I said, startled. Vicki was closest to me and she looked high.

"What happened? Where am I?" Vicki asked, seeming to come out of her stupor for a moment "Oh, I ripped my stitches open. Ugh…"

"Are you okay?" I asked. She was swaying, so I grabbed a hold of Vicki's arm to steady her.

"I took some pills, man." Vicki slurred, "I'm good."

"Where did you come from?" Damon asked suspiciously from the far end of the roof. I wasn't sure how I got there, but if he was asking he didn't know either.

"The stairs, duh." I said, my heart was pounding hard on my chest. I really didn't know how I got up there and that was terrifying. I didn't even want to think about it. "Come on Vicki, let's get you back to Matt. He's really worried about you." I said, leading Vicki down the staircase. "You guys coming?" I asked, noticing the two boys haven't moved.

"We'll catch up, Charlie." Stefan said. His expression seemed strained, but I figured that was because his brother was around. It seemed all the Salvatore's were tense around Damon.

Vicki and I returned to the Mystic Grill and I sent out a mass text letting everyone know she was okay.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"Stefan found her wandering around." I said, he probably wouldn't like to hear she was wandering around on a roof.

"Then where is Stefan?"

"He had to talk to his brother, so I brought her back." I helped Matt with her bandages.

Stefan came in a few moments later. I nodded to him.

"There he is, if you wanted to say thanks."

Matt walked over to Stefan while I finished up Vicki's bandages.

"Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?" Caroline was saying as I sat down at her and Bonnie's table.

"Care, we talked about this." I scolded.

"Excuse me. Hi." Stefan said, coming up to our table.

"Hi." Bonnie greeted.

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" He asked.

"I think she went home." Bonnie took out a pen and wrote on a napkin, "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her, 'I said so'."

"Thank you." Stefan said, taking the note from Bonnie. In the exchange Bonnie touched Stefan's hand and she zoned out, just as she had the first day of school when she touched me.

"Hey, Bon-Bon, you okay?" I asked gently.

"What happened to you?" She asked Stefan. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

Bonnie got up and left quickly. I followed after her.

"Bonnie, what's wrong." We were outside the Grill now, Bonnie was taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You were right, Charlie... I did feel something wrong with Stefan."

"What did you feel?"

"It was so cold and it vibrated through me…" Bonnie was having a hard time coming to terms with what she felt. Finally, she said, "It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

"I knew it," I whispered. "We need to look after Elena. I don't want to freak her out, but Stefan Salvatore is definitely more than he appears to be."

"I think it's time to head out." My sister said as I walked back inside, she was picking up her purse. The Grill was slowing down and most of our friends had gone home already.

"In a moment, I gotta use the bathroom first." I said.

"Meet you at the car." She said.

As I was leaving the restroom my phone dinged.

'_Spend the night at Bonnie's?_' My sister texted, '_Found the guy ;)_'


	3. Episode 3

**Episode 3: The Big Game**

"_Suffering can lead to transformation. And redemption. And marvelous mystery_."

— Dr. Allen Hunt

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

Katherine and Damon were speaking, no whispering in the manor hallway. They were very close together, almost too close. I was bringing in the linen when I saw them. They both took a quick step backward as they noticed me, if only to impersonate decency.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked.

Damon coughed awkwardly.

"Not at all. I'll see you at supper, Miss Katherine. Miss Byrne." He nodded in farewell, leaving the two women alone together.

"What are you doing?" I asked Katerina. "Isn't it enough to have Stefan wrapped around your finger? You don't need Damon too."

"Poor little Maid Maggie…" Katerina sang. "Jealous that I'll take away your lover?"

"Why do you have to do this, Kat?" I implored, "We used to be sisters… Let me have my love this time."

"Well, we aren't sisters anymore, are we Maggie? Besides, you should know by now, I always get what I want. And what I want is both Stefan and Damon."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." Bonnie told Elena the morning after the Comet Festival.

I was trying to text Caroline about what happened last night, but she hadn't replied yet.

"You were the one who said to go for it." Elena said.

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

Elena turned to me, "What did you say to her?"

I raised my hands in surrender, "I didn't have anything to do with this."

"Then why the about-face?" Elena asked Bonnie, "You're supposed to be the positive one, remember?"

"Hey I wasn't being negative," I argued, "just the voice of reason. You've dated Matt since the summer before freshman year, now that you're single maybe it's time to take things slow."

Bonnie agreed, "It's the perfect time to play the field."

"Oh, because I'm so that girl, " Elena said with sarcasm. "Seriously, what are you guys not saying?"

"It's stupid." Bonnie dismissed.

"Bonnie...spit it out," Elena said.

"I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling," she revealed.

"Is that it?" Elena asked incredulously. "Bonnie."

"It was bad bad!" Bonnie defended.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?"

"It's not just Bonnie." I added, "I don't have any witch mojo and I think there's something off with him, Elena."

"We're just concerned." Bonnie added sincerely, "This is us expressing concern about our best friend's new boyfriend."

"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."

"Has Caroline texted either of you?" I asked. They both shook their heads no. "I have to find her, she found her mystery guy last night and now she's not answering her phone. See you guys later."

After school I had marching band practice, on the same field as the football team and cheerleaders. I saw Elena show up for the cheerleaders and decided to say hi.

"Caroline is going to be so happy you're back." I said. "Speaking of which, have either of you seen her? I haven't seen her all day and she's only replied to one of my texts, which is so not like her."

"I'm sure she's fine." Elena said. "So you're coming to dinner tonight." It wasn't a question.

"I am?"

"Yep." Elena confirmed, "You, me, Bonnie and Stefan. You guys have to give him a chance."

"Bonnie agreed to this?" I asked.

"Yes. Please say you'll go too." Bonnie pleaded.

"Okay, I guess I'll go." I conceded. "But you know if you invite me you have to invite Caroline too."

"Okay, Caroline is invited too." Elena's smile faltered a little, but she agreed. "So it's settled. We're all having dinner at my place at 8. And we're going to get to know Stefan."

I took my phone out.

"Sounds good. I'm going to try Caroline again."

At that moment Caroline arrived in the passenger seat of a shiny convertible. She kissed the guy driving before hopping out. My blood drained at the sight.

"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy." Bonnie said, amazed.

But he wasn't a mystery to me.

"What the hell, Caroline? That's Damon Salvatore." I asked as she walked towards the field.

"I got to him first, hope you don't mind sis." Caroline said as she passed me.

"Damon, what the hell." I said as I walked over to his car. "You try to kiss me and when that doesn't work you go after my sister?!"

"She's your sister?" Damon said, feigning ignorance.

"The same last name didn't tip you off?"

"Honestly we hadn't gotten to that part."

"Bullshit!"

"Hey what's that?" Damon asked pointing to the silver instrument in my hand.

"Don't try to change the topic by pretending you don't know what a flute is."

"What if I really didn't know."

"Shut up about the flute. Look, I don't care that I thought there was something going on between us and you chose Caroline over me. I'm not gonna cry over something that never was. But if you hurt her... I will bash your head in with this." I said, brandishing my instrument like a weapon.

"So violent, Charlotte."

Damon drove off with a big smirk on his face.

The car ride home with Bonnie and Caroline was mostly spent in awkward silence.

"So, are you mad with me?" Care asked as we set our stuff down in the living room. When I didn't reply quickly enough Caroline continued, "Like I know you had some connection in the graveyard or whatever, but it's not my fault he chose me. When he first approached I didn't even know who he was."

Swallowing my own disappointment, I replied, "I'm not mad at you Caroline. It's just complicated."

"Do you want me to break it off?" She offered half-heartedly.

"No." I said despite my actual wishes. "Care I want you to be happy, but I'm still hurt. I mean, I told you about Damon. I didn't think my feelings were that secret. But what's done is done, I'm not going to let a guy get between us."

At 8 o'clock I was eating take-out in nice serving bowls with Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan. Caroline was running late to dinner. I was hoping she would turn up soon, because I couldn't tell which was more awkward: the silence or Elena trying to force conversation.

"Charlie is practically a virtuoso," Elena said, "How many instruments do you play?"

"Proficiently...seven."

"Wow, that's impressive Charlie," Stefan commented, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "Which ones?"

"Piano, Organ, drums, guitar, harp," I listed, "I play the flute for marching band in the fall and violin for the school orchestra in the spring."

"Charlie is amazing. She used to play the harp in church."

I shrugged the compliment off.

"Mom wanted us to get into extracurriculars early on and I had a knack for music. It always felt more like I was remembering how to play rather than learning for the first time."

I was saved from further embarrassment by the door bell ringing.

"That must be Caroline. I'll get it." I said, leaving the table before anyone could stop me. I opened the door to see Caroline and Damon waiting outside. My smile faltered.

"Oh...you brought Damon."

"Don't sound so disappointed Charlotte." Damon smirked at me.

"Surprise! I hope that's okay," Caroline said, lifting up a bundt cake,"we brought dessert."

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked. He and Elena had followed me out to the front room.

"Waiting to be invited in." Damon looked expectantly at Elena.

"Oh, yeah, you can—"

Stefan cut her off.

"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"It's fine." Elena said. "Come on in."

Damon walked through the threshold as if he had won a prize.

If I thought the dinner conversation was awkward I was unprepared for the awkwardness of the after dinner talk. Caroline spear headed that conversation, which meant it was mostly her talking about the new cheerleading season.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon commented.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died." Caroline said.

"Caroline!" I chastised, "Remember what I've been saying about being more sensitive?"

"And I say that with complete sensitivity." She corrected. "I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun."

"I'm sorry, Elena." Damon said. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

I felt a headache coming on and excused myself from the room and went into the kitchen. A few moments later Damon came in with his glass. I must have looked pretty awful because he asked if I was okay.

"It's just a headache," I replied, "I've been getting them more often recently."

"Here let me help." Damon massaged my temples until my headache ebbed away.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "Earlier, were you talking about Kater—uh, Katherine?" At Damon's questioning glance I added, "Elena told me about Stefan's ex."

Damon hummed in acceptance. "She wasn't the only one I was referring to, but yes."

"How did she die?" I asked.

"In a fire." He said, "Tragic fire."

I couldn't help thinking if she was anything like she was in my dreams she probably deserved it.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was she like?"

"She was beautiful."

"Like Elena, I bet." I commented, remembering Elena's doppelgänger in my dream. Damon gave me a funny look, but continued.

"Yeah, like Elena. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

"So you both dated her. Was it one at a time, or did she play you against each other?"

"Nicely deduced." Damon complimented, but his eyes grew dark, "Like I said, Katherine was selfish. She was also very manipulative. She made me do things I deeply regret."

"No offense to you or the dead, but it sounds like Katherine was kind of a bitch. You deserve to be more than someone's second choice."

Damon cocked his head to the side.

"What makes you think I was the second choice?"

"If she chose you, she wouldn't have bothered with Stefan. Either way, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be. Katherine's greatest trick was making me think I loved her. To be honest, I think if I saw Katherine again I'd kill her myself."

The silence that followed was deafening. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"On a lighter note, what is with that scarf Caroline is wearing?"

"What do you mean?" Damon's eyes seemed to darkened, but it may have been just a trick of the light.

"I mean it's definitely not in Caroline fashion. Did you leave a huge hickey on her neck or something?" I asked.

"Yeah something like that." He smirked, his eyes lightening up, gaining that sparkle I always seem to associate with him.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1863**

The first time Damon came back on leave from the army, he was a wreck. He never told me explicitly what he had to do to earn two weeks home, but I knew it haunted him. He couldn't sleep peacefully the first few days and then he couldn't sleep without me there to comfort him.

One night he woke up in a fit in the middle of the night.

"Hey, shush, shush…" I stroked his hair, trying to calm him, "You're okay… You're at home with me."

"Oh Maggie…" he gripped onto me, squeezing tightly. "I saw them again. They're haunting me…."

"Who is?"

"The deserters...the old woman… the girl…" Damon didn't need to go into details for me to piece together what happened. I stroked his hair and back lovingly. The night was the only time he showed such vulnerability.

"They died because you were ordered to go there and they would just as soon have taken your life instead. War makes monsters of us all. But you are not a monster. You feel sadness and remorse for the people who lost their lives and those feelings may never go away but they will cleanse your soul. And there is your humanity."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

It was the night of the football game and even before the first kickoff there was a lot of excitement. There was a fist fight between Tyler and Jeremy that Stefan stopped. Caroline was micromanaging the cheerleaders and even the pep band. I needed to take a break early on and maybe even take an Advil for the headache that was steadily growing.

I went to mine and Caroline's car the first chance I got, still in full marching band uniform.

"Nice uniform. Very sexy." Someone said sarcastically from behind me. I quickly turned around; it was Damon. He had that same half-smile he always he did.

"I know, unisex uniforms are the worst. But that's what I get for choosing music over fashion. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to watch my brother play." Damon glanced back toward the field.

"Then why are you in the parking lot and not where you can actually see him?"

"You got me." He admitted, "I'm hiding from Caroline."

"And why is that?" I crossed my arms.

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen."

"Then maybe you should break it off now," I suggested with no ulterior motive. "'Cause that is not going to change."

"I thought you didn't want me to hurt her."

"I don't, but if you string her along it'll hurt more."

"Duly noted." Damon nodded. He took a step closer, "I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

"You don't make me uncomfortable." I told him, "Which is strange, because it definitely is your intention. I'll see you at the game." I turned around and headed back to the stands. Elena was heading in my direction, a necklace glinting in the light. "Hey, Elena is that a new necklace?"

"Yeah, Stefan gave it to me." Elena fingered the pendant fondly, it was a silver round talisman with a red stone.

"Weird, I swear I've seen that necklace before."

Later during the game, while playing pep band my sheet music fell below the stands. I climbed down beneath the stands to fetch it, while I was under there I overheard Damon and Stefan talking.

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way." Damon said, "Or I could just...eat her."

"No." Stefan said, "You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."

"No?" Damon scoffed.

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her." Stefan explained, "I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?" Damon asked, arms stretched wide.

"Then kill me." Stefan challenged.

"Well, I'm...I'm tempted."

"No, you're not." Stefan said. "You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Maggie is dead. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved them, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity"

Damon was tense as he replied, "You have no idea how much of what you just said was wrong."

I left then. Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, especially since I knew for sure now that they weren't human.

A few minutes after I had gotten back to my seat. Midway through the fight song, the game was shut down and the police arrived. History teacher and football coach, Mr Tanner had died, well, he was killed. It happened in the exact spot Stefan and Damon were talking, not too long after I left. It had to be one of them, or maybe it was both. Either way it underlined the danger everyone around them was in. I needed to proceed with extreme caution, for Caroline and Elena's sakes especially. Who knows who they would kill to keep their secret.

"I think you should break up with Damon." I told Caroline.

"I thought you didn't want me to? That you weren't going to let a guy get between us?"

"Well, I changed my mind. But not for the reason you think. I just don't think he's right for you."

"Thanks for the concern sis, but I'm not breaking up with him." Caroline said. Perhaps it was for the best, who knows if Damon would have killed her if she tried breaking up with him.

I left to find Bonnie so we could all drive home together.

"Hey, Bon Bon, you okay?" I asked. Bonnie looked shaken as she looked around the scene where Mr Tanner had died.

"Do you see it?" She asked. Bonnie pointed out the different numbers on the building, license plate, and parking space around where Tanner died. "8...14...22"

"Aren't those the numbers you've been seeing all day?"

Bonnie, still shocked, nodded her head. I wrapped my arm around her in comfort.

"Come on Bon, let's get you home."


	4. Episode 4

**Episode 4: The Founder's Party**

"_Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger. When we suffer, we survive."_

— Cassandra Clare, City of Heavenly Fire

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

My heart beat fast as I entered Damon's room. He sat with his back to me at his writing desk. I closed the door softly behind me.

"Damon," my heart felt like it was lodged in my throat.

"Maggie," Damon stood and within two strides he was in front of me, less than an arm's reach away. He reached out, but his hands fell to his sides before they touched me. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why not? I just want to talk, we used to share many more intimate moments behind that closed door."

"That time is over, I'm with Katherine now."

"No, your brother is courting Katherine. You're just her… side dish."

"I love her."

"What you feel for her isn't real. It's her compulsion. You love me, or at least you did. Look deep in your heart Damon, I know if you feel anything for me at all you can fight the hold she has on you."

"Maggie I—" Damon struggled to speak, then he said, "The words escape me, but—" instead of talking he kissed me passionately. It was like the first sip of water after months of drought.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway and Damon and I sprang apart as if caught on fire. It was Katerina.

"Damon, be a dear and give me and the maid some privacy." She said. Damon, presumably under Kat's compulsion, left immediately. "I have had enough of your meddling, _sis_." Katerina reached out, slamming me against the wall and squeezing my throat. Her vampire strength lifted me off the ground. I struggled for a moment and then I felt heat radiate from my skin. It wasn't too unpleasant for me, but it burned Katerina. She let go, hissing, and looked at the palm of her hand as it blistered.

"What did you do to me? It burns like sunlight." She hissed.

"You can't hurt me Kat, not without hurting yourself." I said.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

My room was a mess as I tried to find the perfect dress for the Founder's party later that day. Usually Caroline helped me with these sorts of things, but she's been weird with me ever since I told her to break up with Damon. Giving up, I took a deep breath and an armful of dresses and walked across the hall to Caroline's closed door. Before I could open the door I heard voices from the other side and paused to listen.

"How come you don't sparkle?" I heard Caroline ask.

"Because I live in the real world, where vampires burn in the sun." Someone replied, it sounded like Damon.

"Yeah, but you go out in the sun." Caroline noted.

'Does she know?' I wondered.

"I have a ring. It protects me. Long story." Damon said, "This book, by the way has it all wrong."

Tentatively, I knocked on my sister's door.

"Caroline!" I called, "I need your advice on what to wear tonight."

"Just a moment!" She called from the other side. I heard some shuffling around and then she opened the door. I raised my eyebrows at her; Caroline was wearing a scarf and sweater with her sleep shorts. Part of me wondered what I would find underneath the layers, the other part was happy to leave it a mystery. "Okay, show me what you got." She said excitedly. At least she wasn't still being weird.

I stepped into her room, Damon was lounging on her bed reading New Moon.

"Perfect timing," Damon said, still flipping through pages of the book, "we were just about to pick out Caroline's dress too."

"Does mom know he's here?" I asked, licking my lips nervously.

"Of course not, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her."

"You do know our mother is a very proud gun owner right?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "So I've heard."

"Okay… well I have a few dresses I thought would fit in at the Founders party." I had brought a blue a-line dress, a red sheath dress, and a black asymmetrical dress and laid them all out on Caroline's bed trying my best to ignore Damon's presence. It was hard enough trying to reconcile the image of Damon as a bloodthirsty vampire and the Damon from my dreams. It was even harder with him dating Caroline.

"Me first!" Caroline said cheerfully. She pulled out two dresses: one yellow and one blue. "What do you think? I like the yellow." She held the yellow dress to herself so we could imagine what it would look like on.

"No yellow. Jaundice." Damon commented, "Go for the blue."

"Really?" Caroline sounded disappointed. She held the blue dress up to herself. "I don't actually like the blue."

"Well I do, and if I'm going to be your date to this thing..."

"Woah, date?" I asked, eyes wide. "You can't be Caroline's date, our mom would flip."

"Let her." Caroline said, "I'm not exactly taking her dating advice right now."

I wanted to argue; to remind her our broken family wasn't mom's fault. But I knew that would become heated and I didn't want to give Damon a show.

"I agree with Damon, the blue is way better." I said, instead. I didn't want to agree with the vampire that was probably drinking my sister's blood, but dammit I did like the blue better. "It compliments your skin tone and really brings out your eyes."

"Fine. But if I'm wearing blue, you can't wear blue too. We're twins, but we're not matchy twins."

"Woah, you two are twins?" Damon put the book down slightly, he had a wolfish grin. "How come no one told me this sooner. I can get down with twins."

I rolled my eyes.

"Pig." I said. Damon returned to reading the book. I picked up the red and black dresses to show Caroline. "My turn, then. The red or the black?"

She played with the hemline of the black dress.

"This one's kinda fun." She said thoughtfully.

"You should go with the red." Damon suggested.

I lifted the red up and looked at it in the mirror. It was a deep, one might even say blood, red. The sleeves and back were shear lace and the dress was form fitting. Despite the implications of the color it did look good on me.

"Red it is." Pointing at Damon I added, "but not because you said so. Red just happens to be my favorite color."

"What's so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped." Damon asked later. Caroline and I had moved on to talking about accessories, and surprisingly Damon had nothing to say on the matter.

I shrugged.

"Beats me." I took a seat next to Damon on the bed and plucked the book out of his hands to look at it, "I'm not really a twilight fan. Personally, I think vampires are overrated; especially if they sparkle. Real vamps burn."

Damon's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but I just smiled at him as pleasantly as I could.

I went to the Founders Party with Bonnie as my date, our friend group usually all went together but obviously Caroline was with Damon and Elena went with Stefan.

"Charlotte, what a lovely dress." Mrs Lockwood greeted as Bonnie and I stepped up to the Mayor's manor.

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood."

"Will you be performing for us tonight?" She asked.

"Oh, um...I'm not sure yet."

"Oh well, either way, welcome and enjoy."

I saw my mom, still in uniform, and decided to say hello.

"Hi mom!" I greeted, giving her a hug. "Still working?"

"Always." She smiled. The sheriff's eyebrows knit together as she looked at something behind me.

"Who is that with Caroline?" I turned to see Caroline and Damon being welcomed by Mrs. Lockwood.

"Her date?"

"Really, you couldn't even change out of the badge for this?" Caroline said as she walked up to us.

"I'm working, honey. Who's the date you just tried to sneak past me?" Mom was still looking intently at Damon.

"Just some guy." Caroline shrugged.

Mom raised a brow.

"He's a little old for you, don't you think?"

"Oh, 'cause otherwise you'd approve. Yeah, I doubt that." Caroline snipped.

"Do you know where your father is?" Mom asked.

"Ask Charlie. She's his favorite." Caroline turned and left, returning to Damon's side.

"Dad's in Memphis." I answered.

"Good."

"I'm sorry, mom. Everything's been harder for Caroline, she's still upset about it."

"I know, I'm trying to give her space, but I worry about you girls. Go on enjoy the party."

"Thanks mom." I gave her another hug before rejoining Bonnie.

Bonnie and I snuck glasses of champagne and browsed the Mystic Falls Historical Society's collection.

"'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration.' Wow, look, it's the original guest registry." Bonnie pointed out.

"Look at all the familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood, Doctor Johnathan Gilbert" I read off. "Typical though, no female names. It's like we didn't start existing until 50 years ago."

Damon came up, a glass of bourbon in hand.

"Trust me, men have been feeling your existence since the dawn of time." He commented.

"Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" Bonnie asked, she was still reading the names on the registry.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon said. A slow waltz began to play.

I saw Mrs Lockwood heading in my direction. When I accidentally locked eyes with her I could tell she wanted to ask me about playing again. Between Mrs Lockwood and a potentially murderous vampire, I think I'd choose the vampire.

"Dance with me, Damon." I requested.

"Shouldn't he be dancing with Caroline?" Bonnie asked, eyebrows raised.

"She won't mind." I lied. Caroline would so mind, but she'd understand later.

"Mind if I steal your date Bonnie?" Damon asked.

Bonnie looked between us and deciding to stay out of it, shook her head, "Nope." And then she walked away.

Damon extended a hand to me, "May I have this dance, Charlotte?"

"I hope you know how to waltz." I said as I took his hand and we stepped onto the dance floor. He took my hand and we positioned ourselves with my other hand on his shoulder and his at my waist.

"Why the sudden desire to dance?" Damon asked.

"Mrs Lockwood was looking for me, probably to ask me to play for the party again. I don't want to, but I hate turning her down."

"Which instrument? The flute?"

"No, the piano or the harp. Whichever she has set up for me. I used to play at events all the time, but now… I don't know. I just haven't been feeling up to it."

"You're surprisingly good." Damon said, as we whirled around the dance floor.

"Sometimes I feel like I've been doing the waltz since the day it was invented." I said casually. "Our dad had Caroline and I take lessons, probably because of all the events Mystic Falls puts on.

"So why are you so intent on getting in between Elena and Stefan?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know what you mean." Damon replied,

"Please, you told Caroline a bunch of bull about Stefan and his ex because you knew it would get back to Elena."

"What makes you think it was made up?"

"Katherine was playing you both and you know it."

"You're right. She was." He admitted.

"So then why are you so angry with Stefan?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Then maybe you could tell me the tragic tale of the original Salvatore brothers, instead." I asked searchingly.

"Well, since you asked. The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here—"

"The Battle of Willow Creek. I remember, we talked about it in History. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Katherine…" I whispered, it must have been her in the church.

"What did you say?" Damon asked, he must have heard me.

"The situation then must have been similar to your situation with Katherine. They both loved the same woman and then she died tragically. Doomed to repeat the past and all that..." I tried to explain away my slip up.

"You're very intuitive…" Damon said suspiciously. "What makes you think it was a woman in the church."

"Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" I answered. "Anyway, that was an awful story. But I suppose war makes monsters of us all."

Something I said must have struck him, because Damon's grip on me grew tighter before he let go completely.

"Thank you for the dance, Charlie." He said before disappearing in the crowd.

I rejoined Bonnie. She was sitting alone at a table, surrounded by lit candles.

"Woah, that's a lot of candles." I commented. She looked up at me startled.

"Charlie, do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"What? No. Why would you think that?" I asked as I took a seat next to her.

"If I'm really a witch, wouldn't that make me a freak?" She said quietly.

"Grams is really getting to ya, isn't she?" I teased playfully, it got Bonnie to smile a little. "Look Bon-bon, according to Grams you come from a long legacy of witches. That doesn't make you a freak, that makes you like the coolest person I've ever met."

"You think?"

"I know. Real or not, the world needs a little magic. And a little Bonnie."

"God, you're corny." Bonnie laughed.

"Well, it's true, I need you in my life, you're my best friend. And honestly, I've been dealing with some weird stuff lately-"

"Hey guys." Elena greeted from the doorway, dateless, "I need some ice cream, anybody want to join me?"

Bonnie and I grabbed ice cream from the kitchen with Elena as she told us everything that went down with Stefan, or didn't go down since he apparently won't tell her anything about his past. Elena had finally had enough of the mystery and left him on the dance floor.

"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie said.

"It's not your fault." Elena said between spoonfuls of ice cream, "I just—I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it, and then that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty."

"I would say Stefan and Damon's fight has nothing to do with you, but they obviously insist on involving you." I ate a spoonful of ice cream, "You deserve a few more words besides 'I don't want to talk about it'."

"You're right." Elena nodded.

Elena and I went to the powder room to freshen up. Caroline was already in there at the mirror.

"Hey." Elena greeted.

"Hey." Caroline replied, "So how are things with Stefan?"

"Great. Just great." Elena replied stiffly.

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes…" Caroline said. She was adjusting her scarf and as it moved Elena and I saw a dark bruise on her neck.

"What is that?" Elena asked, trying to lift the scarf.

"Don't!" Caroline exclaimed, but it was too late. The scarf shifted enough to reveal a large bite mark.

I pushed Elena out of the way to look at it closer.

"Caroline, what happened?"

But I knew what happened, I just didn't want to believe it and now, seeing it made it real.

"Nothing, okay?!" She said, still frantically trying to cover it back up.

"That is not nothing! Did Damon do that to you?" I asked, looking my sister in the eyes. I needed to know how far gone she was.

"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone."

Elena pulled down Caroline's shawl, revealing another bite mark on her back.

"I'm gonna kill him." I walked out of the bathroom ignoring Caroline's pleas to stop. After seeing those marks on Caroline I was seeing red. I was furious at Damon, and I was furious at myself for allowing her to get marked like that. All thoughts of caution flew out the window. Caroline was hurt and I could have stopped it if only I had stepped in sooner.

I found Damon outside and marched right up to him. When I got close enough I pushed him. He didn't move and it allowed him to grab onto my wrists.

"You are so lucky I don't have my flute on hand. I saw what you did to Caroline...What the hell is wrong with you? You better stay away from her, or I'm going to our mother, the sheriff."

"Charlotte," Damon said lowly, his grip on my wrists tightening. "Maybe we should talk elsewhere, in private."

"No, I'm not going anywhere with you—" My protests were useless though because Damon was a lot stronger than me and he was dragging me along behind him. He was taking me to the front of the house were there weren't any people around. He turned me around to face him, his grip on my arms keeping me in place.

"You drive me crazy, you know that? There's something familiar about you, reminding me of everything I've lost a long time ago. Which doesn't make any sense, because you're someone so completely different. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? Worse, I can't compel you and I don't know why. Are you on vervain? Are you a witch?" He was shaking me now and it scared me.

"Damon I don't even know what you're talking about!" I lied.

He turned me around again so my back was to him. His arms went to my waist and his nose brushed the hair off my neck.

"Maybe it's better if I just end this torment now." He whispered. I knew what was coming.

"Please don't do this…"

I let out a scream as I felt his fangs puncture my neck. A hot burning sensation flared up at the bite and suddenly Damon let me go, a startled scream leaving his lips.

"What the hell? What are you?" He said between pained coughs.

I fell to the ground next to Damon. He was hunched over, sounds of pain still emitting from him. His face looked scarred and burned. The next moment Stefan was there, injecting Damon's neck with something that knocked him out.

"I'm sorry Charlie, I didn't think Damon would…" Stefan's apology died in his throat as he looked at me. From the corner of my eye I could see a glowing light fading from where Damon bit me.

"What's happening to me Stefan?" I asked, feeling lost.

I gingerly felt where Damon had bit me but there was nothing there, just my unblemished skin. There wasn't even any blood despite feeling Damon bite me hard.

"I don't know Charlie. Please don't say anything about this...We can talk later, but first I have to get Damon out of here."

I nodded and watched, amazed, as Stefan lifted Damon and then sped away faster than my eyes could track. Perhaps I've been wrong about Stefan, just as I was wrong about Damon. On the ground where Damon had fallen was a yellow crystal necklace. I pocketed it. It looked familiar, although I couldn't quite place where I'd seen it before.


	5. Episode 5

**Episode 5: Sexy Suds Car Wash**

"_He was a killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone, by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in a hostile environment where only the strong survive." _

― _**Jack London, The Call of the Wild**_

* * *

**Whitmore College, 1957**

I was seventeen. My hair was long and brunette. I was reading in my father's study. I jumped hearing a loud sound from the other side of a door that I knew led to the basement. Father never let me go down into the basement. He said there was nothing interesting there, just pipes and storage and archives.

I could hear a clunking sound, coming repetitively from the basement door. It could have been one of my father's assistants.

My father wasn't in the room. I pressed my ear to the door. I could hear a rhythmic thunk, thunk, thunk… I was about to open the door when my father entered the room.

"Sabrina! Get away from there, what have I told you about entering the basement?"

"Sorry Father, I heard a noise."

"Then don't go near it! It's dangerous for you to be down there."

"Dangerous? How can old books and junk be dangerous?"

Her father looked quite off guard, as if caught in his lie.

"The pipes have been leaking, I'm sure it's just the plumber you heard, but it's not safe for your health to be down there."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

"How are you doing?" I asked Caroline one morning as we sat at our kitchen island with coffee and toast.

"I'm great." Caroline said, unconvincingly cheery. "Have you confirmed with the band?"

"Yes Care, I triple checked with the members of band that passed your inspection, and they are still on board."

She was referring to the school fundraiser she was hosting. It seemed to be the only thing Caroline wanted to talk about this weekend, no matter how many ways I tried to bring up Damon.

It has been four days since the Founder's Party and no one had heard from either Salvatore brother in that time. I had gone back inside after Stefan had left with Damon to find my friends.

"Damon's gone, Care," I had said, "he's not going to hurt you any more."

"What?" Tears were brimming in her eyes, threatening to spill. Her voice was shrill as she accused, "What did you do?"

"What happened, Charlie?" Elena had asked more calmly, rubbing Caroline's back to soothe her.

I explained as calmly as I could without slipping out the vampire bits that I had confronted Damon, he attacked, Stefan knocked him out, and now they were both gone. The first couple of days after, Caroline became recluse. I tried talking to her about what happened that night or what happened between her and Damon, but she didn't want to talk.

Then yesterday she came into my room like nothing happened and we watched reruns of _The Office_ and polished each others nails. I tried not to bring up Damon again because I figured if she wanted to talk she would bring it up herself.

At school she acted the same as she always did.

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed." Caroline was reminding students in the hallway. "Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off a bikini, like Charlie. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser, for god's sake."

"Is she okay?" Elena asked, unsure.

"She hasn't talked about Damon at all since the Founders Party." I told Elena and Bonnie, "Every time I try to bring him up she changes the subject."

"She's in denial." Bonnie said.

"Hey." Stefan greeted as he came up to us. Bonnie and I looked at each other and silently agreed to leave.

"Hey. You know, I gotta go… be somewhere right now." She said.

"Yeah, I gotta be there with her." I said as I followed Bonnie down the hall.

"How are _you_ doing?" Bonnie asked once we had stopped by my locker. "You said Damon attacked you?"

"That may have been a glamorization. It wasn't really that intense," I tried to downplay it. Sure, Damon biting me had scared me in the moment, but not as much as what happened _to_ _him_ when he did. "He kinda just held me really tight, and he yelled at me, which was scary at the time. But Stef jumped in and saved the day."

"Starting to think Stefan's not as bad as we thought."

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," I joked. "But I am starting to think he's worth a chance, for Elena's sake." I looked over to the couple as I mentioned them, my eyes narrowed as I saw Caroline interrupt them demanding to know where Damon was. The look on her face as Stefan told her he wasn't coming back broke my heart. I didn't like the hold Damon had on my sister even when he wasn't around. It was all so Dracula-esque.

"So what weird stuff have you been dealing with?" Bonnie said, drawing my attention back to her.

"What do you mean?"

"You started to say something back at the Founders party before Elena came in. What were you going to say?"

I looked at Bonnie, one of my best friends, who may or may not be a witch, whatever that means in a world where vampires and whatever I am exist. What I could possibly say without it being too much?

"I've just been having some strange dreams, that's all." I said as the bell rang, conveniently saving me from having to elaborate.

It's not that I didn't want to share what's been happening with me with my best friends, I just didn't know how. The dreams, the appearing suddenly on a roof when I was on the ground a second before, burning Damon's face when he bit me, none of it made sense to me. How could it make sense to someone else?

After school, I met up with Stefan at the Salvatore Boarding House.

"Thank you for coming, Charlie." Stefan said as he let me in, "I wish we could have spoken sooner, but I've been busy."

"With Damon?"

"Yes."

I steeled myself for the answer as I asked, "Is he dead?"

"No." Stefan replied, and I let out a relieved breath. Sure I was mad at him for hurting Caroline, but there was still an irrational part of me, residual from my dreams, that stubbornly cared about him. He continued, "I have him locked away. Damon won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

"But you knew what he was and what he was doing and you let him bite Caroline." I accused.

"Trying to force Damon not to do something is more dangerous, trust me."

I closed my eyes and took a calming breath. Stefan was probably right. Damon was a killer, he hurt Caroline. I had to keep reminding myself of that, but my dreams weren't making it easy.

"So you guys are Vampires right?"

"Yes. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

I shrugged, "Not really. I think I always knew. That's why I didn't like you when we first met. Not that I like you now, but I think you've earned the chance to prove yourself after the Founder's party."

"Thank you, Charlie."

"Oh don't thank me yet. I don't know how, but I know you Stefan. You're hiding something dark and dangerous, and it's not just the vampirism." I could see Stefan stiffen, visibly uncomfortable with the conversation. "You need to let Elena in on your little secret if you want to continue being with her. She deserves to know what she's getting herself into."

"I will, when the time is right." Stefan promised. He cocked his head to the side, "How did you know about vampires?"

"I've been having dreams."

"What kind of dreams? Are they prophetic?"

I shook my head, "No. They're more like memories. The night before the first day of school I had a dream that you attacked me, well not me per se…"

"What do you mean?"

"I was someone else. It was the 1920's, I had brown hair and… I think my name was Daisy."

Stefan was quiet for a minute, he looked to be in anguish as he remembered the name.

"You're right about me…" he finally said. "I do have a past that I am ashamed of. I'll be spending the rest of my eternity trying to atone for the things I've done. One of them being in 1922, I killed a woman named Daisy Barnham."

"How could I possibly know that?"

"Maybe you're a witch. Some witches have powerful psychic abilities."

"Did it hurt you when you bit me? I mean, Daisy? Like it hurt Damon."

"No. And I don't know why that happened. What other things have you seen in your dreams?"

"I've had a lot of dreams of me and Damon recently. But he was still human."

"Who were you in those dreams?" Stefan probed.

"Maggie Byrne."

Stefan nodded, as if this all made sense.

"Damon was in love with Maggie before Katherine arrived, and I think even after he still loved her. But Katherine was—"

"A manipulative compulsionist bitch." I supplied.

"So you've seen her in your dreams too?" Stefan asked. I nodded. "So you know that she—"

"And Elena are carbon copies. Yeah. At least we know you have a type. Do you think Elena gets weird dreams from Katherine's past too?"

"I don't think so," he replied and added, "God, I hope not."

"Whatever happened in the end between Damon and Maggie? I haven't seen that yet."

"I'm not sure. One day she just disappeared. It probably hurt her to see Damon pining after Katherine. Not too long after, Damon and I became vampires."

"Do you have any idea why I might be dreaming these things?"

"I'm not sure. I could ask some witches I still have connections with. It could be that you are a witch or maybe reincarnation _is_ real."

"Even though I'm nothing like Maggie."

"Maybe not in looks, but in spirit you're very similar." Stefan said reassuringly.

Caroline was picking out our bikinis for tomorrow as I flipped through a magazine.

"So…" I started, "You and Damon…"

"I told you I don't want to talk about it." Caroline said shortly. She picked up two different bathing suit tops. "Stripes or Polka-dots?"

"You have to talk about it sometime, Care. We've avoided the subject for four days and you know you can't keep things from me. We're not just sisters, we're best friends."

"Fine." Caroline dropped the bikini tops. "I don't really remember Damon ever biting me. I mean I remember the steamy bits. But it's like there's holes in my memory lately. I remember him kissing my neck, or maybe biting my neck. I don't know. It's just weird. Maybe I let him bite me."

"I don't think you did that, Care." I said sincerely.

"Can we not talk about it anymore? I just want to go back to normal."

"Okay..." I picked up one of the bikinis she was looking at, "You should wear the polka-dot one, it's cuter and the ruffles fill out your chest more."

"Good call." Caroline smiled. Her phone rang and Caroline picked it up. "Hey Tiki, what's up? No, Tiki, do not do the one-piece, ok? I've seen it on you. Trust me. Yeah, we are going for stripper pole vibe this year."

"Maybe we should wash the cars in slow motion." I suggested loudly.

"You heard her?" Caroline laughed. "No."

Caroline looked around widely. She mouthed, 'did you say something?'

I shook my head, 'no.'

"What?" Caroline returned to the phone call flustered. "oh, um, no, sorry. Um, so I'll just see you tomorrow. Two-piece. Ok, bye."

"What was that about? You were looking a little out of it there."

"Huh? Oh it was nothing, I just thought I heard something."

The next moment a crow flew into her open window, startling us. Simultaneously we grabbed pillows and shooed at the bird.

* * *

****Whitmore College, 1957****

I had disobeyed my father and gone down to the basement. The pathway was dimly lit and I could see a space where they had set up a laboratory. The medical slab standing in the middle looked ominous in the moonlight entering from the basement windows.

Farther down the basement hallway I came across cell doors. One of them was occupied by a man sitting against the brick wall. He looked sick and weak.

"Oh my god, What are they doing to you?" I whispered. Who knew how my voice would carry here.

"Shouldn't you know?" He replied weakly. "What are you? A teaching assistant? Intern?"

He turned his face towards me and even in the dim light his shocking blue eyes stood out. They were the same eyes that had been haunting me in my dreams, and suddenly I new exactly who he was, Damon Salvatore.

"I'm Sabrina Whitmore." I said.

"Whitmore, huh? Look me in the eyes." Damon stood up a little more, so I could see his face better. "Open the door. Open the door." He repeated.

My hands went to the lock on the cell door, of course I wanted to let him out, but at that moment I heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, "I'll come back." And then I ran off as Damon cursed.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

The day of the Sexy Suds Car Wash I wore a strappy bright pink bikini and high-waisted shorts. Caroline and I took turns braiding each others hair. We got to the school early to set up the fundraiser since Caroline was in charge. There were already some cars waiting when we got there. Caroline informed all the volunteers how we were going to run the car wash and then we got to it.

"What are you wearing?" I asked as I brought over a bucket of water and some sponges to Matt.

"Uh...a shirt?" He said, pulling at the fabric of his v-neck.

"Well, take it off!" I playfully scolded, "It's called sexy suds for a reason, we're trying to raise money here."

Matt swiftly took off his shirt.

"Is that better?"

"Almost." I said as I dipped a sponge into the bucket. When the sponge was full of water I wrung it out over Matt's head. "Better," I said cheekily.

"You're gonna pay for that," he playfully threatened. I ran around the dirty car for protection. Matt grabbed the bucket and raced after me, flicking water at me when he got close.

"Save the water for the cars guys," Bonnie said as she came over to us. I stopped mid chase to look at her.

"Sure thing Bonnie." Matt said before he flung the rest of the water from the bucket all over me and the car.

"Thanks for that Bon-bon." I said after spitting out some the water that got in my mouth.

Matt refilled the bucket and we actually got to work to clean the car.

Later that afternoon Matt and I were taking a break after finishing our sixth car of the day. Matt stared off into the distance.

"Hey, no!" I snapped my fingers in Matt's face as soon as I noticed what he was looking at: Elena and Stefan.

"What?"

"None of that tortured pining stuff." Bonnie said.

"I'm just observing." Matt said defensively.

"Sure you are Matty." I said, patting the poor lovesick guy on the back.

Another car came in and Bonnie told Tiki, one of the other cheerleaders, to take it, but Tiki responded with a lot of rude attitude. Bonnie obviously didn't like it and shot a nasty look as she watched Tiki get a hose to refill a bucket with water. The next moment water splashed up from the bucket. When she lifted the hose it was moving erratically on its own, spraying Tiki until she was drenched.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Tiki exclaimed.

"Wet and wild, Tik." Matt laughed, handing Tiki a towel as the hose stopped flowing water.

Bonnie had that freaked out look on her face again.

"Hey Bonnie are you alright?" I asked quietly.

"Oh, yeah, just peachy." She said, snapping out of it. "It looks like we're going to need more towels though."

"I'll get them." I told her.

I went back inside the school to grab the towels, but as I was leaving I saw Caroline wandering down the hallway in a daze.

"Caroline? Where are you going?" I asked, lightly grabbing onto her elbow. Without looking or responding to me she shook me off. "Care, you can't just leave in the middle of the fundraiser you put together." I said as I followed her out of the back of the school. She wasn't listening to me though, I became very worried about my sister.

I followed Caroline all the way to the Salvatore Boarding House and down to their basement.

"I don't think we should be here Caroline." I said, but she was still in a trance and continued along the basement. Caroline stopped once we reached a cell door. It had bars on the door window so we could peek inside.

The first thing I noticed was Damon's face; as handsome as ever, his burns had healed completely, leaving no trace that they were ever there. Damon was laying in the corner against the wall looking pale and weak. He looked so much like he did in 1957.

"Damon? Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Caroline asked.

"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly." Damon struggled to stand up, but he managed to reach the door. "Let me out of here. Please."

"Caroline we should go." I grabbed her arm to move her away, but Caroline kept her ground.

"You bit me." She said.

"You liked it. Remember?" Damon replied.

"No you didn't," I argued, "Come on Care let's go. Leave him here to rot."

Caroline wasn't moving though. Her forehead scrunched together in thought.

"Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?"

"You remember what I want you to remember." Damon said. "And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do."

"What am I about to do?" She asked.

"You're gonna open the door." Damon repeated, "You're gonna open the door."

Caroline started unlocking the door.

"Caroline, Stop!" I pushed her away half-way through. I tried putting the lock back in place but it was released enough for Damon to push on the door making it impossible. I pushed back on the door trying to keep it closed enough that he couldn't get out.

Zach came down to the basement yelling "No! No!" He went to the door pushing it back with me. "Get out of here. Run! Run!" He yelled at me and Caroline.

Now that she had completed her task, Caroline finally listened and ran. I stayed put. Even the two of us weren't strong enough to keep the door from moving. I could feel the door shudder with Damon's strength pushing against it and knew we couldn't keep this up forever. At best we were staying even for a couple more minutes, but we weren't closing the door again.

"Go!" I yelled at Zach. "Make sure my sister gets out."

"You go!" Zach said stubbornly. He was worried about me, but strangely I didn't feel like I was the one in danger.

I felt a heat in my hands and saw them glow a bright orange-red. Zach's eyes widened as he noticed my hands burst into flames. He jumped back as the heat licked at his arms.

"What are you?" He asked in fear. Suddenly, I realized that was the real reason I hadn't told anyone what's really been happening with me; what if they were afraid of me?

"Get out!" I roared, pushing into the door single handedly. This time Zach listened, scrambling out of the house.

The flames dissipated, but my arms still glowed that hot orange-red color.

I had a massive headache.

My strength must have been greater than I thought because I was able to keep Damon at bay for a few seconds longer, until my headache overwhelmed me and I passed out.

* * *

**A/N:**

Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, you're all so encouraging! I have so many things planned for this story. Not everything is set in stone though, so hearing the feedback really helps!

_Jrtjtrgjgtrjter:_ I don't know if Charlie will get pregnant in the future or not. I have been thinking about it, but if it does happen it won't be for a while.

_LouiseFisher _and_ Guest_: I will try to put more of the other characters into focus besides Elena and Stefan, (I do love Bonnie and Matt), but Caroline is a major character in my story.


	6. Episode 6

**Episode 6: Party at the Boarding House**

"_Be with me always—take any form— drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!"_

—_**Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights**_

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

I hadn't seen Katerina Petrova in 372 years. I almost couldn't believe she was still alive. She was alone in the guest bedroom, and it was my duty to see if the lady needed anything more from the Salvatores.

"Katerina." It was just barely above a whisper, but she jolted to attention as if I had yelled it. Within the blink of an eye she was in front of me.

"Do I know you? Are you working for Klaus?" She asked, paranoid.

"_No, no, it's me Katerina, your sister. It's Viktoria._" I said in Bulgarian.

Suddenly Katerina's hand was at my throat, she started with just a light squeeze; a warning.

"Please, clover, you don't look anything like my sister. Now how do you know about me and Tori?"

"Because I am her! Maybe not on the outside, but look into my eyes and see that my soul is the same."

Kat looked me in the eyes, whatever she saw there must have been good enough because she released me.

"_Impossible_." She said in her native bulgarian.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

I awoke on the most comfortable bed I had ever been in and it most definitely wasn't my own. I was wearing a t-shirt that wasn't mine. Luckily, I was still wearing the bikini and shorts I wore to the car wash underneath the new shirt. My phone, which I had in my back pocket, was missing. I got out of bed and walked around the room. There was a pile of books next to the bed. I shifted through the top ones: _Wuthering Heights, Call of the Wild, Interview with a Vampire_.

I took in my surroundings, the large bed, the tall windows, the woods outside, the generous fireplace, I assumed I was still at the Salvatore Boarding House.

The events that occurred before I lost consciousness were a bit of a blur. I remembered following Caroline to the Boarding House. I remember seeing Damon locked in the basement. Then things get hazy. I remember the anxiety of trying to keep Damon in his cell. There was a flash of my hand on fire, but the fire hadn't hurt.

I looked at my hands and I tried to recreate the sensation of them lighting up. My head started to hurt, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when I tried to keep Damon from eating Zach and Caroline. Warmth rose up from my core and traveled through my body, up my spine to my fingers, and then I felt that warmth burning only in my hands. I raised my hands as they started to glow, just as I saw them do yesterday, wisps of fire trailed behind my hands as they moved like a comet flying through space.

"So you're getting the hang of your witchy mojo." Damon said from the doorframe. I dropped my hands and the warmth left them. The pressure in my head was relieved too.

I took a breath, hiding my nervousness, "I don't think I'm a witch."

"Right, you're just the reincarnation of my long lost love. Because that's not too convenient." He said sarcastically.

"Have you met you lately? It's really not," I countered. "Obviously you heard me and Stefan talking."

He pointed to his ears.

"Just because I was desiccating in the basement doesn't mean I didn't still have vampire hearing."

"And you don't think it's possible? That even after dying, Maggie's soul was reborn."

"I think it's a lot less likely than you being a witch. So that's what I'm putting my money on."

"That's ridiculous. So Elena can share a face with Katerina, but I can't share a soul with Maggie."

"Pretty much. And her name was Katherine."

"Originally it was Katerina Petrova." Deciding to follow my dreams lead I said, "Look me in the eyes, Damon. Look into the windows of my soul, and if you can't see any part of Maggie there, I'll drop it."

Damon placed his hands on either side of my face, they felt cold and I wondered briefly if touching me warmed them. We stared into each other's eyes, on the outside Damon looked as young as the day he died but in his eyes I could see his age. There was a flicker of emotion in his eyes as Damon stared into me, but he quickly masked it.

"Nope. Nothing." He let my face go and a part of me felt empty.

"You're lying, but fine, whatever. Thanks for not killing me in my sleep, but I'm heading out." I said, masking my own feelings as I walked past him. I had just gotten to the bottom of the stairs when Damon flashed in front of me.

"Woah woah woah. Not so hasty. Stay. enjoy the party."

"First, I don't want to. Second, I can't. Who knows how long I've been gone, I'm sure my mom already sent out an amber alert. I don't even know where my phone is."

"Don't worry about that, already taken care of." Damon held up my phone by his fingertips. I snatched it from him, walking a few feet away as I did so, and looked to see what he meant by 'taken care of'.

In my text history Damon had apparently texted Caroline yesterday, 'staying out. Cover for me? ;)'. And Caroline had replied, 'k details later ;)'.

"I wonder if she'd be so complacent if I asked her to help me cover up a murder." I muttered.

"Probably," Damon said from his place by the stairs.

I turned around to face him.

"So she doesn't remember anything that happened yesterday, like at all?"

"Nope," Damon popped the 'p'.

"And what happened to Zach?" I asked, worried.

"Not sure. He ran out of the house, if I'm lucky he left town entirely. Living to be a thorn in my side another day." Damon answered, stepping closer to me as he did. I was relieved to know that I had bought Zach enough time to get out.

"Why do you want me to stay?" I asked searchingly.

"The leverage. Stefan stole my daylight ring. I need it back."

"Let me think about it." I feigned considering it and swiftly replied, "No, thanks. Bye."

I turned away again to leave but I was stopped by the sound of a door closing upstairs. I turned to see Vicki Donovan in a tank top and underwear walking by the upstairs banister.

"Oh, man. That shower was so great." Vicki said, towel drying her hair as she came downstairs.

"Vicki's here too?" I said, eyebrow raised.

Vicki stopped to look in a mirror and noticed the bite mark was gone.

"What did you give me?" she asked.

"Some blood. You loved it." Damon replied, ignoring me.

"I did?" Vicki said, "Wait. I'm confused. How did we get here?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know why she's here too." I looked to Damon expectantly.

"We met in the woods. You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and brought you here, gave you some blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down."

"Vicki, we should really go." I said.

"Don't be such a wet blanket, I want to party."

"Yeah Charlie, loosen up, don't be a wet blanket." Damon mocked.

I walked up to Damon and whispered, "If I stay, you don't kill Vicki."

"No promises." He whispered back, "but if you go, I definitely will."

"Fine," I ground out, "I'll stay."

"Um, but first, can I have another hit?" Vicki asked Damon. "That blood was so good."

"Only if I can." He replied. He bit into his own wrist and gave it to Vicki, with her lips on his wound Damon bit into Vicki's wrist and drank from there. It was all very creepy and I had to look away.

"You should try it," Vicki said, wiping off the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. "It's the good shit. Might make you less of a prude."

"I'm okay. Thanks." I noticed the Salvatore's piano and sat down. My fingers flittered above the keys. I guess if you can't leave 'em, join 'em. "Can't have a party without music. Hey, Vicki guess the tune." I started playing Katy Perry's _Hot n Cold_.

"Oh, I love this song." Vicki started singing the words, off-key, as she danced.

Damon took a seat next to me on the piano bench. As my song ended he started playing _Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da_ by The Beatles. I started singing along at the chorus. Vicki and found t he Salvatore's radio and once his song ended she turned it on.

Damon turned to me on the bench, "I didn't realize you were a fan of the 'classics'."

"Please, I'm a huge music nerd. Of course I know The Beatles." I watched Vicki dancing around in her tank top and underwear and realized I was severely missing something from this equation. "Hey where's the liquor cabinet? If I'm gonna be stuck here I need a drink stat." I got up from the bench and looked around for the bar I saw the last time I was at the Salvatore House.

"I hope you like whiskey." Damon said, suddenly by my side with a bottle of bourbon and two glasses already filled.

"I'm a teenager, Damon. I like anything that gets me drunk." I said as I took one of the glasses and slid its contents down my throat. The burn of the alcohol feeling unusually pleasant.

Half an hour and five shots later all three of us were dancing all over the Salvatore's living room. The music system was turned up so we could hear it anywhere in the house. After the third or fourth shot, I had thrown the borrowed shirt off so that I was dancing in just my bikini and shorts. At some point Damon had unbuttoned his shirt, or maybe Vicki and I had done that for him. Either way he was shirtless and every so often as we danced our skin would brush against each other, sending my alcohol addled mind back to 1863 when Damon and Maggie were together.

Eventually it became too much and I had to sit down on the couch.

Vicki was still dancing and jumping around the Salvatore's living room and talking about how she was so over Tyler and how she liked Jeremy now. Damon managed to seem vaguely interested. It was nothing new to me; ever since Elena ran into Vicki in her bathroom, Elena couldn't stop bringing up Jeremy and Vicki hooking up.

While she ranted I grabbed a candle sitting on the Salvatore's coffee table. Wanting to try something, I concentrated on the candle's wick.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked. Nothing had happened to the candle.

"What was it you said earlier? Oh, yeah, getting a hang of my witchy mojo. I'm trying to light the candle with my mind."

"Well, you're doing a piss poor job it." He replied. Huffing, I placed the candle back done.

"You can start fires with your mind?" Vicki snorted, "Makes sense, you were always the weirder Forbes sister."

"I can't," I said, "yet."

This time I pointed my finger at the wick and concentrated on sending that same warmth I recreated that morning out through my finger tip and to the candle.

"You look constipated." Vicki commented.

An annoyed anger ripped through me and fire shot out of my hand, lighting both the candle and the fire place across the room.

"Whoops." I said, sheepishly.

"That was actually kinda cool, Forbes." Vicki said, taking another sip of bourbon straight from the bottle.

"Okay. Enough of that." Damon said, blowing out the candle.

"Agreed." I took the bottle from Vicki and took my own generous sip.

"Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend?" Vicki asked Damon, "You're, like, totally cool and so hot."

"I know." He said, winking at me.

"It's because he's an asshole, Vicki." I said, crushing his ego. Damon's smile slipped into a slight frown. "He _was_ dating Caroline remember? But he majorly screwed that up."

Damon rolled his eyes, "It's not like that was going anywhere."

"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vicki asked, and despite everything, I found myself greatly interested in the answer.

"I've been in love." Damon stated, "It's painful and pointless and overrated."

Flashes of Maggie watching Damon and Kat kissing when they thought no one was looking, I could feel her pain as freshly as if it was my own. Perhaps Damon had a point. I took another swig of whiskey.

"Except when it isn't." Vicki replied with unexpected wisdom.

"No more talking. Let's dance." Damon dipped Vicki and when he stood her up he spun her away. He lifted me off the couch, catching me as I stumbled, his hand feeling cool on my warm back, and started dancing with me. Soon we were all dancing together again and I could forget my worries because I was actually having fun in my captivity. Or I was just really drunk.

Damon jumped onto the second floor banister and started dancing there. Vicki and I laughed, amused and followed him up to the second floor. He went into one of the bed rooms and started pulling books off the bookcases. Vicki ran to the bed, jumping on it and throwing all the pillows and blankets on the floor.

I picked up one of the fallen books, which looked like a journal dating back to the forties.

"Who's room is this?" I asked.

"Stefan's." Damon said, knocking down more books.

"Whose room was I in when I woke up?"

"Mine." My drunken mind went to all sorts of dirty places. I think Damon could tell because his eyes grew dark, but like in that sexy kind of way. "I know, not the way I imagined getting you into my bed either." He said, his hand reaching for my waist.

Clearing my throat I chose to ignore that and stepped over to Stefan's desk and with a great sweeping motion of my arms I knocked everything off. I laughed in the face of the mess we made, dissolving into a fit giggles that was joined by both Vicki and Damon.

Something I'd thrown on the floor must have caught Damon's attention because he picked it up. His stare hardened as he looked at the picture, it was of Katherine. I covered her face with my hand, making Damon look at me.

"Hey, she's not here right now, Okay? So stop thinking about her." I took the picture and threw it back on the floor behind me. "Now dance with me," I commanded. The music changed into a slow song. With my arms circled around his neck and his hands on my back as if in a hug, we swayed to the song. I rested my head on his shoulder. One of Damon's hands was stroking my hair.

"This is nice." I said, my drunken mind unable to keep my thoughts contained. "Stefan's right, you really aren't the monster you pretend to be."

"What?" Damon breathed, the hand at my hair tugged at the strands forcing me to look back at him.

"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia beach with Pete." Vicki said suddenly, not reading the room at all. She was sprawled out on Stefan's bare bed. The interruption was just what I needed to get out of Damon's hold. "He drives trucks." She continued. "I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering." Vicki finished, tears trailing down her face. I felt sad for her, I was angry with my dad for lying and leaving us, but at least I knew him. I still had good memories of my dad, Vicki didn't have any.

"Your life is so pathetic." Damon said without an ounce of sympathy.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed-up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank."

"You are so damaged." Damon continued, his mind seemed elsewhere.

"Yep."

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem." Damon stepped closer to her, resembling an animal stalking prey.

"Damon…" I said warily. I didn't like the look on his face.

"Nope, none."

Damon sighed at her. "I think I know what could help you."

"Damon, don't do it." I warned. I could guess what Damon was thinking. I stepped closer to Vicki, trying to get between them.

"What's that?" Vicki asked.

"Death." Damon replied. He stepped around me faster than I could blink and snapped Vicki's neck. She fell limply onto the bed.

"What the hell Damon!" I yelled. The pleasant warmth from the liquor quickly became uncomfortably hot. From my peripheral vision I could see flames around my head. It shocked Damon who took a large step back with wide eyes. The fire dissipated almost as quickly as it ignited. I was suddenly feeling very sober. "You killed a bunch of campers, Mr. Tanner, Vicki's friends and now Vicki—"

"Vicki's coming back." He said, as if that made it okay, "She died with vampire blood in her system. She's turning into a vampire."

"That doesn't make it okay!" I said angrily. Damon looked nervous, as if he expected me to burst into flames again. I took a breath and tried to calm myself, for all I knew the fire might come back. "What happened to you? I always knew you were kind of an asshole. But when did you start to care so little for other people?"

Damon grew angry and defensive. He paced up to me but stopped himself before he got too close. "Because I'm not the same guy that you see in those dreams of yours. I'm a vampire. A monster. And it's about time you realized that."

"You're not, not really." I said in denial. "You're just hurt and lashing out and pushing away everyone before they can get close enough to hurt you again. But I know you feel guilt over everything that you've done, even if you can't admit it."

"Tell me, Charlie, in those little dreams of yours have you seen the one where I killed Maggie."

"What?" I asked, shocked. I hadn't seen that. I couldn't even imagine it. They had loved each other so strongly.

"That's right. I killed Maggie. You've been operating without the full story, but I can assure you: I've always been a monster, Charlotte."

Vicki groaned as she woke up. "What happened? We were dancing, and then…"

"Damon killed you." I said, still shocked from Damon's revelation.

"What?" Vicki was still groaning as she got out of bed.

"You're dead." Damon reiterated.

"I'm dead?"

"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it." He replied flippantly. "You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process."

"You're wasted" Vicki said, obviously not believing him. She grabbed some sweatpants off the floor and started heading out of the room.

Damon stopped her, "You don't wanna be out there all alone. You're about to get really freaky."

"Ok, I had a really good time. I just wanna go home."

"Vicki it's not safe for you to leave. You could hurt someone." I said, trying not to let my anger out on the girl who just died.

"She's right." Damon said, "You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful."

"Come on, move." Vicki knocked into him with her shoulder to get him to move out of her way.

"See? you're already starting to fall apart." He joked.

"And I'm going home now." She said, walking out.

"Ok, fine. I'm just warning you. Actually, you know what?" Damon said, changing his tune, "You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."

"Yeah, whatever." Vicki said as she walked downstairs.

"Bye. Tell Elena I said hi and if you see Stefan, tell him to call me." He called after her.

I followed after Vicki, also knocking into Damon with my shoulder as I passed.

"You're leaving too?" He called after me.

"Yeah. You already killed Vicki, and I don't burn in the sun. So, bye." I wasn't in the mood to try and decipher Damon's mixed signals. He wants me to think he's a monster, but he also wants me to stay?

I followed Vicki out of the Salvatore Boarding House and when we were past the driveway I tried to stop her.

"Vicki! Hey, Vicki." I called out to her. She stopped and turned to face me, arms crossed.

"I'm not staying." She said. "What ever kinky shit you and your boyfriend are into, I'm not. I just want to chill with Jeremy."

"He's not my boyfriend," I muttered. "And I wasn't going to ask you to stay again, but you really shouldn't go home. We need to find Stefan, he can help you."

"I don't need help, Forbes. Especially from you." Vicki walked away.

Frustrated, I texted Stefan, warning him about Vicki.

"Hey, where have you been? You totally owe me for covering by the way." Caroline said as I entered our house. By the way Caroline was sprawled out in the living room, Mom wasn't around.

I debated with myself about what to tell her. It's not like I couldn't say anything, but I didn't want to lie. She'd be pissed if I told her I was with Damon without telling her why. Damon made her forget about vampires, so even if I do tell her the vampire stuff I don't know how it would affect the compulsion. I really didn't want to break my sister's brain.

So instead I told her about myself.

"Care, there's something I have to show you." I brought her up to my room and took out the journals I'd been writing in since the dreams started. "These are my dream journals. I write in them every morning about the dream I had the night before."

Caroline picked one up and opened it somewhere in the middle. She read a few pages before closing it again.

"Is this your way of telling me you want to be a writer? 'Cause I'll support you, it's pretty good."

I laughed.

"No, Care. The dreams I have, they're more like memories. That's why every entry has a place and year associated with it. They rarely come in sequence, so that's how I keep track."

"Memories… Like from a past life?"

"Past _lives_… There's something else I need to show you." I put my hand out, palm up, and focused on bringing the warmth there. A ball of fire erupted from my palm. I was actually impressed that I could do that now.

My sister gasped in surprise.

"H-how are you doing that?"

"I don't know. The leading theory is I'm a witch." I let the fire die out.

"God, that's crazy!" Caroline sat down on my bed, "But amazing! Does that mean I'm a witch too?"

"I don't know," I said, humoring her. I grabbed a candle from one of my shelves and handed it to her. "Try to light the candle."

Caroline's forehead crinkled in concentration on the candles wick, but nothing happened. After a few moments she gave up.

"Nope, not a witch." She said.

Stefan had texted me back, letting me know he would help Vicki and that he had finally told Elena the truth.

I went over to the Gilbert's House to check on Elena, and to let her know she wasn't alone. When I got there, I saw Damon leaving.

"Elena are you okay?" I asked. Elena had sat down on the porch. "I saw Damon. He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No. He didn't. So you know about everything?" She said, "Stefan told me."

"Yep, Vampires are real. Although I think I always knew." I said, joining Elena on the porch.

"How?"

"In my dreams. They always seemed too real. Damon thinks I'm a witch, but I don't know…Maybe I should ask Bonnie's Grams."

"Do you think Bonnie's a witch?" Elena suggested.

"The way things are going? Probably."

We laughed at the ridiculousness of our situation. Elena seemed on the brink of crying, but I knew she was stronger than she appeared.

Vampires and witches and who knows what else, the supernatural was real. It had already claimed countless victims and now it had taken someone we knew, the sister of our dear friend Matt. We didn't know how to fight the unknown, we didn't know how to protect our friends and families. All we could do was sit together on the Gilbert porch and wait for news.

Stefan arrived sometime later, his shirt was covered in blood. Elena jumped up to check his wound. But Stefan assured it he was ok.

"I couldn't stop her." Stefan informed us, "I tried."

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"It means Vicki's a full time vampire now." I said, "Do you know where she is?"

Stefan shook his head in guilt.

"No, I lost her. But, I'll take care of it. I'll find her, and I will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she does not hurt anybody, Elena. I promise you."

"What do I tell my brother and...and Matt?"

"Vicki can call… say she's going out of town for a while." I suggested, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"So, you want us to lie?" Elena said, she was having a hard time processing all this.

"Do you want them to know Vicki's a vampire?" I asked, whispering the last part. "She died, but she's not dead. And eventually she'll be able to be around people again without wanting to drink them dry. Trust me, Matt and Jeremy? They don't want to know that part." The tension was thick between Stefan and Elena, and I realized there was no more room left for me. "I'm gonna go back home now. See you later, Elena."

Before I went home I stopped by Sheila Bennett's house. Witch or not, Bonnie's grandmother was an occult professor at Whitmore, she was the only person I could think of that might know what was happening to me.

"Charlie?" Bonnie had answered the door, "What are you doing here?"

At the sight of Bonnie, not her Grams, I felt like running away. Which was ridiculous, she was one of my best friends and strange things had been happening to her too.

"Uh— never mind, maybe I should just go—"

"Bonnie, who's at the door?" Sheila asked as she walked up. She caught my eye over Bonnie's shoulder and gasped. "It can't be." Her eyes were wide and her face had paled like she had seen a ghost. "Come here, let me get a better look." Sheila pulled me in and looked intently into my eyes. "I can't believe it, it is you."

"Grams, it's Charlie. You've known her since she was like six," Bonnie said slowly, as if worried her grandmother had lost it.

"I can't believe I never saw it before." Sheila said absentmindedly, still staring shocked at me.

"Grams, who do you think Charlie is?" Bonnie asked. She looked to me for answers but I was just as confused.

Sheila went back into her living room and picked up a picture frame from her fireplace mantel. She handed the picture to Bonnie and we both looked at it. It was an older photo, showing Sheila as a teenager next to a younger girl.

"Amanda Bennett, my sister and your great aunt. She wandered off into the forest and was never seen from again. I tried contacting her spirit a few times to no avail, but I see now it was too busy to answer."

I touched the little girl's face in the photo and flashes of memories sprang to mind: playing in the forest as my sister and I collected herbs, learning magic with Sheila and hating the lessons because I could never replicate a spell like she could.

"Grams that— that can't be right, that—" Bonnie was having a hard time forming her words.

"No, Bonnie I think she's right. I mean I don't remember exactly, I've been a lot of people, but it sounds familiar."

"I think it's time we talked over some tea." Sheila said, moving towards the kitchen.


	7. Episode 7

**Episode 7: Halloween**

"_A_ _starving child is a frightful sight. A starving vampire, even worse." _

― **Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire**

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

"Emily," I greeted the handmaiden. I had seen her around the estate often since she arrived with Katherine. They must have some sort of deal, why else would a witch follow a vampire so willingly? "I have a gift for you." I pulled an amber necklace from my apron pocket. It was the only thing I had kept before leaving Ireland.

"Oh, thank you, but I don't think I can accept." She tried to decline.

"It's okay Emily. Take it, please. This stone traps the power of the sun. It's very useful in magic against Vampires."

Emily's eyes widen but she took the necklace from my hand.

"Thank you." And as if seeing me for the first time Emily said, "You have a very old soul." She stared at the stone for a moment before continuing, "I fear I may have use for this soon enough."

"I imagine you're right," I agreed. "The townsfolk here are not as naive as the vampires would like to believe."

Emily grabbed my hand, "Will you help me?" She pleaded, "when the time comes, will you help me?"

"Yes." I placed my hand on top of hers, feeling like we had made a pact.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

One month had passed since Vicki turned into a vampire. And in that time I had not seen the moment Damon killed Maggie. I was hoping since he had brought it up that I would dream of her death, but I got nothing. I couldn't fathom Damon killing her, he loved her. I know he did and he still does.

If he didn't why would he visit her grave still, 145 years later? I've gone by Maggie's grave to garden at least once a week. Sometimes he's already there and we have a brief conversation where I ask about Vicki and he gives me a one word response. Other times there's just a crow there watching me, I've come to realize that Damon can control it somehow.

Over the past month, Elena and I kept checking up on Vicki. So far she hadn't made much progress towards being able to rejoin society.

Halloween morning my phone rang.

"Hey Elena, what's up?" I answered.

"_I'm going to the Salvatore's to check on Vicki._" Elena said from the other end, we had made it a habit to call each other when we went over, for piece of mind or what have you.

"Want me to come with?" I offered, "Could be dangerous."

"_No, I'll be fine. If Damon wanted me dead he would have done it already._"

"That doesn't mean he still won't kill you. Besides, it's not Damon I'm worried about. At this point Vicki's more likely to do the deed."

"Charlie! I need your help!" Caroline called from her room.

"Hey, Sorry Elena, I've got an emergency to attend to."

"_Is everything okay?_" Elena asked, her worry palpable from over the phone.

"Yeah. Don't be so serious Elena, it's probably just a fashion emergency. Caroline's working on our costumes right now. Speaking of, are you going to that Halloween thing?"

"_I don't think so._"

"You should, it'll be good for you. Maybe take your mind off all the supernatural crap going on."

"_Don't you know how many vampires are going to be there?_" She joked. At least she still had a sense of humor.

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see it, "At least we know those ones aren't real."

"_For all we know, they could be._" She said, betraying how lost she felt amongst the supernatural.

My sister called for me again.

"Just a moment!" I yelled back. Returning to my phone call I cautioned Elena, "Just be careful. Vicki was a substance abuser when she was human, I can only imagine how that trait is transferring over to vampirism."

"_I will._ _Have fun with Halloween. Someone has to_." She hung up.

I grabbed my jewelry box and went across the hall to Caroline's room.

"Okay, Care." I said, placing the jewelry box on her desk, "What are we this year?"

"Witches!" She said excitedly, holding up three different witch costumes.

"Hitting the nail on the head are we?" I asked, eyebrow raised. Caroline had been surprisingly quiet about my new found abilities, except for the occasional pun about magic or fire.

"What? Halloween is the one day of the year that you get to dress up and show people exactly who you are without judgment." Caroline said very seriously.

"Aren't you supposed to dress as something you're _not_ for Halloween." I countered.

Caroline's hummed in agreement. "And those choices can be very revealing. Plus, these outfits are cute and sexy. They just need a little accessorizing." She laid them down on her bed and started holding up different dangling earrings to each dress.

"Which one is for Bonnie?" I asked. Each dress had a different color scheme: Purple, yellow, green. Caroline pointed out the one with yellow sleeves and accents. "Perfect! I've got just the thing for her."

I pulled out the amber necklace from my jewelry box. Caroline grew wide eyed as she recognized it and snatched it from my hands.

"Isn't this Damon's? Why do you have it?" Her brow furrowed as she looked between me and the talisman.

"He must have dropped it." I shrugged, "Oh well, finders keepers."

"I think Damon gave it to me. Or he was going to give it to me." Caroline said, focusing on the stone. She was definitely thinking about Damon again.

I took the necklace back gently, "And now we're giving it to Bonnie as the finishing piece of her costume. Because Damon is old news and we don't want anything that has to do with him, right?"

I stared at Caroline until she answered.

"Right."

We met Bonnie at the high school to give her her costume. Every year the high school put on a Halloween party for the community and, as student council president, Caroline had a major role in putting the whole thing together. Which for Bonnie and I meant that we had to help out, at least with the decorations.

"I've got your costume. It's all here." Caroline said, handing Bonnie a plastic bag with her dress, hat, and necklace.

"Seriously?" Bonnie asked, holding up the witches hat. She wasn't impressed. She looked to me as if to say 'did you let her do this?'.

"Come on. Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween?" Caroline said. "I just wanna have fun, you know, just some silly, fluffy, Damon free fun."

I agreed. Damon was acting more on the down low since Vicki turned, but that didn't mean Caroline and I still weren't awkwardly running into him at the Grill or that Caroline wasn't having nightmares about him she couldn't remember because he compelled her to forget he was a vampire.

"Hey, what's this?" Bonnie was holding up the amber crystal.

"Damon gave it to me." Caroline said. Although that wasn't exactly true, I didn't correct her. Whatever helped her move on. "Wear it. Toss it. I don't care. I just want it gone. Hey, have you seen Elena? Do we know what she's wearing?"

"I was with Grams all week. I haven't talked to her." Bonnie replied.

"I don't think she's going." I answered.

"What do you mean she's not going?" Caroline asked, as if it was so scandalous for someone to miss out on Halloween. "What else could she be doing tonight?"

"I'll talk to her Care," Bonnie offered. "Don't pout, you're gonna get wrinkles."

Caroline rubbed at the crease in her forehead. "I'm not pouting. Just let her know it's going to be really fun." Caroline left to discuss the lighting while Bonnie and I hung up the fake cobwebs.

"You should keep the necklace Bonnie," I said as I stretched the spiderwebs out. "it used to belong to Emily Bennett. It's powerful."

"Bennett? As in—"

"Your ancestor? Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because I gave it to her in a past life."

I'd spent a lot of time with Bonnie and her Grams this past month. That first night when Sheila recognized my soul I had sat down with the Bennett witches and we talked over steaming cups of tea.

"Does that make me a witch?" I had asked.

"You definitely have some sort of natural magic. Mandy did too, even if she wasn't particularly good at casting spells."

"What about fire?" I asked.

Bonnie suddenly sat up straighter, "Fire was one of the first things I made that really freaked me out. I kept lighting candles."

"Fire was always an element under Mandy's control," Sheila confirmed.

Leaving out the parts with Damon and vampires, I began to explain to them the dreams I'd been having and the strange occurrences of fire.

Sheila wasn't sure if I was a witch or something else, she'd searched through her Grimoires throughout the month but so far hadn't found anything pertaining to what I might be experiencing. Meanwhile, I practiced control with Bonnie. As she managed to levitate feathers, I figured out how to light candles with just my mind.

I stopped by the Boarding House after set up finished. When I got there Elena was walking briskly down the front steps.

"Hey, Elena are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." She said, but I didn't believe her. "Okay. Not so fine. Vicki threatened me. You were right, Charlie, she is dangerous. I wouldn't go back in there if I were you."

"Vicki can't hurt me, Elena. If she tries I'll burn her. I'll be fine." When I entered the Salvatore house Stefan was in the living room as if waiting for me. He probably was. "So I take it things are going well with Vicki?" I said sarcastically.

"She's on edge." He tried to defend himself and her, "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…"

"Well, if it takes her as long to get over her issues as it did_ you_. She's gonna be stuck here for a while." Stefan looked ashamed at my mention of his past.

"But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own," he defended.

"Do you have Vicki on your animal diet?" I asked.

"Yes. Although she hasn't really taken to it yet."

"Of course she hasn't. You guys are vampires, you're not supposed to feed on animals."

"So you'd rather have Vicki kill people? Because that's what would happen if she fed on people right now."

"So hand her some blood bags," I suggested. "She doesn't need an alternative diet, she just needs to learn self-control."

"Because she had so much of it when she was human," he argued.

I groaned in frustration.

"Vicki doesn't deserve this… and neither does Matt. He's been worried sick about her. Keeping her locked up, drinking coffee and animal blood…all it's doing is starving her and making her more dangerous to be around."

"So you want her to go live with Matt?"

"No, I'm not an idiot. She'd end up killing him on accident. But she should be going out, supervised, learning how to catch and release humans. That way, eventually, she will be safe to see her brother again."

Stefan sighed, defeated.

"Perhaps you're right. But I don't think I could help her with that."

"I know," I said bluntly. "Look we all appreciate you trying to help Vicki, Stefan, but you're not exactly the most functional vampire. Have you tried getting Damon to help?"

"Have you forgotten all the 'animal attacks' Damon caused?"

"No, I didn't. But he didn't kill anyone because he lost control. He's just a dick."

Stefan's lips twitched into something that was almost a smile.

"Okay, and how would you convince Damon to help?"

"He wouldn't want Vicki getting out on her own, she might spill the beans on the vampires in Mystic Falls. Which would be fitting considering she's the only known survivor of one of those 'animal attacks'. I know Damon's started to lay low since you guys ran into that vampire hunter."

"You know it's rude to talk about people like they're not there." Damon said as he and Vicki came down the stairs.

"Where are you taking her? She could hurt someone." Stefan said, visibly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Relax. I'm not takin' her to Disneyland. We're going in the front yard. Come on." Damon motioned for us to follow him out of the house. "I'm gonna teach her some of the perks. One of us has to teach her what it means to be a vampire." Damon said as he winked at me.

"Maybe you should start with the basics?" I suggested. I wanted Damon to help, so why was I feeling so uneasy now?

"This is basic." Damon said and in a flash of his super speed he was suddenly behind me.

"Oh this is a bad idea…" I heard Stefan murmur from the porch.

"Whoa. How did you do that?" Vicki asked, her head wiping around.

"Come on Vicki, live a little," Damon teased. "No pun intended."

Vicki used her newly found vampire speed ability and disappeared from the yard.

"Uh...my bad." Damon said, although he didn't sound too apologetic.

"I gotta go." I said, ignoring the barrage of texts Caroline was suddenly sending. "I'll keep an eye out for Vicki, but you better help look for her too," I pointed at Damon, "It's in your best interest."

When I got to my car I took a moment to just breathe. Everything about Vicki's situation was frustrating and so was Damon and vampires in general. And, glancing at my phone, I still had to get ready for Halloween. So much for having a good time.

That night Caroline, Bonnie, and I returned to the school for the Halloween Party. We met up with Tyler. I didn't particularly like Tyler, but when it came to parties he was always trying to get us to have a good time and get us all drunk.

"Cider for the ladies." Tyler offered, bringing over three drinks for us. "It's a Lockwood special."

"No way." Bonnie declined, shaking her head. "Last year I was hung over until Thanksgiving."

I took one of the ciders just to be polite, but with Vicki running around I couldn't afford to get drunk again.

"Lightweight." Caroline said, taking a cider for herself and taking a large gulp. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with."

"Sounds like a plan." Tyler laughed and touched his cup to hers in salute.

I caught a glimpse of Vicki, dressed as a vampire, and excused myself to follow her through the crowd.

"Hey, Charlie." Matt greeted, getting in my way. "So the witch thing, was that planned or…"

"It was Caroline's idea." I said distractedly. I was focused on watching Vicki behind Matt's shoulder. I watched as Stefan came up to her and moved her to a different room, away from all the people. Relieved I focused back on Matt, smiling. He looked like he'd seen better days. "I keep telling Care that she, Bonnie, and Elena should dress up as angels and follow me around for Halloween."

"And what would you be?" Matt asked.

"Myself. I'd be part of their costume, Charlie's angels. Get it?" I asked. Matt smiled a little and I felt a little better about everything that was happening with his sister.

"Maybe I should have asked you for last minute costume advice instead of going with last years'."

"No time for costume shopping?" I asked sympathetically. "I know Vicki's been worrying you lately."

Matt sighed. "Yeah, I just don't get it. She called me a month ago, telling me she was going to be away for a while. And then it's radio silence until today when she shows up out of the blue. I'm glad she's back...but I don't know. She's different, somehow."

"Everything will be okay, Matt." I said, although I didn't really believe it. "Vicki just needs to find herself. She's lucky to have a brother like you."

"Thanks. I wish I could do more…" Matt trailed off as he turned his head and noticed Stefan trying to restrain Vicki. Matt left me quickly to help his sister. I tried to follow and stop him, after all Stefan and Elena were just trying to convince Vicki to leave the party, but I literally ran into Damon.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." He said as he held my arms to keep me from falling. I stepped away quickly, not wanting to allow myself to feel comfortable in his arms.

"Are you here looking for Vicki?" I asked.

"Have you seen Caroline?" he asked instead, looking above the heads of the other party goers.

I grabbed Damon's shoulder to get his attention.

"Stay away from her, Damon." I stared hard at him, "I'm serious."

"Fine. I will." Damon agreed, shrugging off my hand. "But first I need my Crystal back."

"What crystal?" I asked, playing dumb.

"The one you gave to Bonnie."

"Oh! That crystal." I said, "No I don't think I will. After all Bonnie is the rightful owner."

"No she isn't, it belongs to me."

I tilted my head in faux curiosity, "Was that before or after Emily Bennett had it?"

"So you know about her too."

"Yep. And I know Maggie's the one who originally gave it to her."

"She was?" Damon's brows furrowed, it seemed he didn't actually know everything.

"Oh no." I said, noticing Elena and Stefan frantically looking around.

"What?"

"Looks like Vicki's gone AWOL."

"Come on." Damon said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go look for her."

"I think it'll be best if we split up." I said, releasing myself from his hold before it grew familiar.

A few minutes later I walked outside to the back parking lot just in time to see Elena land into a pile of garbage. As I ran toward her, she got up and began running in my direction with Jeremy.

Suddenly Vicki appeared, pushing Jeremy away and attacking Elena.

I rushed forward, grabbing Vicki's arm and pulled her away.

"Ah!" Vicki screamed, her arm was on fire. So much for practice, I hadn't meant to do that.

She shook the fire out and advanced on me. I held my arms out and grabbed her shoulders to keep her away, but Vicki was so angry and out of control.

"Stop, Vicki!" I yelled, but it was no use, she gained the upper hand and threw me to the ground. She bit into my neck and suddenly Vicki was engulfed in flames.

Vicki let me go and I watched from the ground as the flames consumed her. The flames were more intense than when Damon had bitten me.

Vicki screamed and screamed and I was surprised that no one came out from the school.

"Stop it, Charlie!" Elena sobbed.

"I can't. I don't know how." I had no idea how to stop a fire after I made it.

Stefan came behind Vicki and stabbed her in the heart with a wooden stake. The fire died down with Vicki's death.

"This is your fault, Stefan." I accused, shakily getting up. "Vicki wouldn't have been so out of control if you had trained her with human blood."

"You can't know that for sure." Stefan said.

Jeremy was crying over Vicki's burnt body.

"Can you get him out of here?" Elena asked Stefan. Stefan took Jeremy home using his vampire speed.

Elena and I hovered over Vicki's body, both of us crying.

"What do we do now?" I whispered. It was hard to look at Vicki's burnt, broken body.

"We wait." She said between sobs.

"What are we going to say to Matt?" I asked. It was the wrong thing to say, as soon as the words left my mouth Elena sobbed harder and latched onto me.

Damon arrived a moment later, his face devoid of emotion.

"You should go. I got this."

"You did this." Elena said, her anger overriding her mourning."Charlie blamed Stefan, but this is all _your_ fault."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." Elena struck at him, but Damon grabbed her hand before it landed. "None of this matters to me. None of it," He said evenly.

I stood up, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.

"God you're such full of shit," I said bitterly. "Life matters. People matter. Their death matters and you know it. Stop acting like the villain."

Damon looked between me and Elena who was still glaring at him.

"I just came to clean up." He said. He looked down on Elena and released her hands from his grip, "You should leave, you're _hurt_."

"Fine." She said shortly, her voice breaking. Elena stormed away.

"What are you going to do with her?" I asked, forcing myself to look at Vicki one last time. Half her body was charred and the other untouched half had turned ashen grey. The blame could be tossed around, but if I was being honest with myself, it was all my fault.

"I'm going to bury her, somewhere she won't be found." Damon said, picking up the- Vicki's body.

I nodded. I walked back into the school feeling numb.

I looked for Caroline among the throng of teenagers. She was no doubt drunk by now, but I needed my sister. I found her swaying to the music with Bonnie and Tyler.

"Hey." I said, wrapping my arms around Caroline's neck from behind. "I'm so over this party. Can we head home and watch _Hocus Pocus_ until we fall asleep?"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the follows and favorites, it's really encouraging! Let me know what you think of the story so far in the reviews :)**


	8. Episode 8

**Episode 8: Stefan's Birthday**

"_There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent."_

― Dave Barry

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1971**

"Mandy!" My sister called my name. I was twelve, my hair was a mess of wild curls that flew behind me as I ran through the woods. "Mandy, come back here!" Sheila yelled after me. I giggled as I ignored her.

We were supposed to be picking herbs for Mama, but something was calling out to me.

The closer I drew to the something the more excited I got and the faster I ran.

I found myself in the ruins of Fell's Church. There was a woman there waiting for me. She wore strange clothes from a different era, but still I felt like we'd met before. Perhaps in a dream. Her name came to me like a whisper on the wind, Emily Bennett.

"Hello." She smiled down at me.

"Who are you?" I asked despite knowing the answer already. Perhaps I was wrong, or it was coincidence.

"I'm Emily. But you know that. We used to be friends, and now we're family."

"Why are you here?" I looked around at the ruins curiously, "Why did I come here?"

There was a darkness here, I could feel a powerful latent magic hidden beneath the earth.

"This is where it started. And this is where it has to end." Emily kneeled down and held onto my hands, "When the time comes, will you help me, Amanda?"

"How do you know my name?"

"We're family now. I knew you by another name too, Maggie."

"Mandy!" My sister's voice carried into the ruins. I turned back to see where she was and saw that she had caught up with me.

"Hey, Shei!" I smiled at my sister. She looked displeased.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" She asked exasperated.

"I was meeting my friend."

"Who?"

I looked back to gesture towards Emily, but there was no one there.

"Oh, she's gone now."

My sister came up and grabbed my hand, leading me back to town.

"Ma warned us to stay away from here, and I don't blame her; this place is creepy."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

I woke up in a haze. Vicki Donovan had died last night and whether or not it was entirely my fault, I did have a hand in it. My sister was snoring lightly beside me, we had fallen asleep in her bed as we watched our favorite Halloween movie. It was such a normal thing, I thought it would help me forget about my guilt, but it didn't.

Untangling myself from Caroline's sheets, I got out of bed as quietly as I could. Although Care drank enough last night that I doubt thunder could wake her.

Stretching as I entered my room I didn't notice anyone else was there until I heard a cough as I started taking my shirt off. I pushed my sleep shirt back down and whirled away from my dresser. Casually laying on my bed was none other than Damon Salvatore.

"What are you doing here?" My face was red in a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"I think a better question is…" he said, raising from my bed and stalking towards me, "Why weren't you in your room?"

"No it's not." I said incredulously. Damon made it sound so suggestive. "Caroline and I had a sleepover. Get your mind out of the gutter. Now, why are you here?" I repeated. It was disconcerting that he could just show up in our house anytime, too bad there wasn't a way to uninvite a vampire.

Damon put on a charming smile. It really was disarming, but I wasn't going to let myself swoon. "I need you to throw a party at the Grill tonight."

"A party?" It was like the word punched me in the gut, "Vicki died last night and you want to throw a _party_?"

"You didn't even like Vicki," he scoffed.

"You don't know that!" I yelled. I stopped myself, taking a deep breath to calm myself before I started again more quietly, "Even if I didn't like her, that doesn't mean I wanted her dead." My voice and movements became more frantic as I continued, "And Matt doesn't even know, how am I supposed to see him everyday, much less at a party, and act like it's not my fault his sister's dead." Damon grabbed my arms, forcing me to stop my erratic movements.

"It's not your fault," he spoke firmly. "It's mine. I'm the one who turned her, remember?"

Of course I remembered, but I didn't understand why he didn't want me to feel at fault. I suppose trying to take all the blame aligned pretty well with his bad guy image.

"Why are you asking me anyway?" No one ever asked me to plan anything, at least not when Caroline was around.

"Caroline _was_ my first choice. But you asked me to stay away from her."

"And you actually listened?" That was unexpected.

"I'm full of surprises. So party. Tonight. Mystic Grill."

"And why should I do anything for you?" I crossed my arms defiantly.

"I have a plan that will solve this town's vampire problem." I rolled my eyes, of course, ever since Vicki killed that vampire hunter he'd been worried about someone in town figuring him out. Damon winked, "And it requires you to host a big party."

"Since you're the vampire problem, does this plan involve you leaving? 'Cause I can organize a going away party."

"Very funny." Damon dead-panned. "No, it's more like a...birthday party. For Stefan."

"It's Stefan's birthday? What, is he finally turning sixteen hundred?"

"Someone is especially sarcastic in mourning," He commented. "And I want my crystal back."

"Well that sucks. Because it's not mine to give. Is that your big diabolical plan?" I mocked, "Throw a party to steal a necklace?"

"No." Damon teased, "If I told you my plan, it wouldn't be very diabolical, now would it?" He smirked. "So recap: Party. Crystal. Do it, or I'll just make Caroline do it."

Any trace of a smile I had vanished.

"Force Caroline to do anything ever again and you're toast, literally." I warned. "Why can't you just throw the party yourself?"

"Because then Stefan won't be there. Just do it. If not for me, to help protect my brother." It was almost like he was pleading with me.

"Fine." I said begrudgingly. "I hate you," I added weakly as I flopped onto my bed.

"Hate you too." He sang and then Damon was gone.

An hour or two later I was walking into my sisters room carrying water and tylenol.

"Hey Caroline," I said, "Time to wake up."

My sister grumbled something under her blanket.

"Did you bring me a magic potion? 'Cause I think I need one for my hangover."

"No, but I've got something just as good." I said, handing over the bottles of water and pain reliever.

"Want to throw a party at the Grill tonight?" I asked after she took the Tylenol.

I didn't want Damon to compel my sister anymore, but honestly I'm not really the go to party planner of Mystic Falls.

"You? Want to throw a party?" Caroline asked, nearly choking on the water she was drinking.

"Yeah, is that surprising?" My sister gave me a look that told me it was. "It's Stefan's birthday. He doesn't want anyone to know, but I figured we could throw a party anyway."

"Okay, so? We're not dating him. You don't even like him."

"So I'm trying to get to know him better, for Elena's sake. Besides, it's the perfect excuse to have a party!"

Caroline thought it over in her head for a moment. She smiled.

"Alright, I'm in."

That afternoon Caroline and I went down to the Grill to talk about using it as the party venue. Talking to the owner was all Caroline, she was much more charismatic than me. Elena was already seated at our usual booth so I joined her while Care handled business.

Elena looked distracted.

"Hey what are you doing here?" She asked, looking up from her soda.

"Caroline and I are planning a party here tonight," I said, trying to not sound as uncomfortable as I felt. "You should come."

"What? Vicki died last night." Elena whispered, echoing my earlier argument.

"And we're the only two mourning." I whispered back. Did I sound too callous? I didn't mean to, I was trying to get through this party planning without breaking down.

"Because we're the only two who know."

"Honestly, I think it's what Vicki would have wanted." I said, surprising even myself, "She loved to party, what better way to celebrate her life?"

"Okay, What did you want to talk about?" Bonnie said as she sat down, noticing me she added, "oh hey Charlie, did Elena send an emergency text to you too?"

"No. What emergency?" Elena's cheeks had gone scarlet.

"Not really an emergency…I went to see Stefan today—"

"Woo! So glad that is settled." Caroline interrupted, joining us in the booth. "The Party is on tonight and it's going to be epic."

"What party?" Bonnie asked

"Just the one Charlie and I are throwing. A little post-Halloween soirée. You should bring Stefan, Elena, it's going to be so much fun."

"Uh, Care, Stefan and I kinda broke up."

"What! When?" Caroline asked, shocked. It was news to me too, but I guess Elena couldn't handle all the vampire business after all. Elena and I shared a knowing look. "Did you know about this Charlie?"

"No, it's the first I've heard. What happened?"

Elena took a moment to gather her thoughts, and think of something Caroline and Bonnie appropriate to say.

"Uh… it was just hard, because you know he keeps a lot to himself. And then I went over today to try and talk to him and there was a girl there in a towel."

"That's a quick rebound," Caroline said.

"You don't know that," I interjected. "She could just be a friend."

"What kind of friend walks around your house in a towel?" Caroline challenged.

"The kind that just got out of the shower. It's not like they showered together." At Elena's pink cheeks I added, "You broke up with him, Elena. If you're starting to regret that you should talk to him now before it is too late and stop sending mixed signals."

Elena nodded, "You're right."

"And you should totally invite Stefan to the party. What better occasion to make up." Caroline suggested with a grin.

Afterwards, I stopped by the sheriff's station with a club sandwich from the Grill.

"Hey mom, I brought you lunch." I said as I entered her office.

"Thanks honey." She smiled taking the sandwich. There was a large box on her desk. Peeking inside I saw purple flowers. Vervain.

"What's with the box of flowers?"

"Oh just something one of the deputies dropped off to make the place smell better." My mom said off handedly, but it didn't sound right. She was hiding something from me. "Thanks for the lunch sweetie," she said, moving the box of vervain behind her desk.

It suddenly struck me; my mom knows about vampires. And most likely, so did all the deputies.

Stefan and Damon were in more trouble than I thought.

The party at the Grill started without a hitch. My sister and I observed our handiwork with pride. There were plenty of people, just as Damon wanted and they all seemed to be having a good time. Well… besides Damon. I found him sulking at the bar.

"You got your party, Damon. Aren't you happy?"

"Do you have my crystal?" He asked, a fake smile plastered on.

"It's not your crystal, so no, I don't."

His smile dropped.

"Then I'm not happy." Damon caught sight of a blonde woman entering the Grill and left me.

At first I thought he was going to try to pick her up. But from what I saw and the cold shoulder she gave, they knew each other already.

The blonde took up Damon's empty stool.

"So you know Damon?" I started.

"Unfortunately." She turned in her seat, looking me up and down. "How do you know him?"

It felt like the answer to that question was more complicated than it needed to be.

"He kinda used to date my sister and I'm almost friends with Stefan," I settled.

"Oh, hey! I'm a friend of Stefan's too. My name is Lexi."

"You must be towel-girl." I blurted out.

She shrugged.

"I've been called worse."

"So...if you're friends with Stefan, does that mean that you're a...you know…" I mimicked fangs with my fingers.

"So you know about the pointy teeth?"

"Yep."

"Wow, Stefan is not doing a good job of keeping this a secret is he?"

"To be fair, It's not his fault. I already knew. The boys think I'm a witch."

"And you disagree?" Lexi asked, picking up my unvoiced thought.

"I'm definitely supernatural, but I don't think I'm a witch." My time spent with Bonnie learning magic taught me that.

"Interesting. What else would you be?"

"I have no idea. Something with fire. How long have you known Stefan?"

"Oh, not too long after he was turned."

"Are you the one that got him on that bunny diet?" I asked curiously.

"It wasn't exactly my idea, but I guess I helped him get there."

Lexi compelled a couple free shots from the bartender. She handed one of the tequila shots to me.

"I believe I have you to thank for the party."

We clinked glasses and both drank the shots.

"Actually, it was mostly my sister. She really knows how to move a crowd." I gestured toward Caroline with my empty shot glass.

"I'll have to thank her as well. Is your sister like you?"

"No. Caroline is one hundred percent human. She thinks I'm a witch, but she doesn't really know anything about the supernatural."

"How'd she take it?"

"Well, I think. Actually, I'm not sure it's really processed in her mind that I'm…" I struggled to find the word.

"Different?" Lexi offered. "The love of my life was human. It took him a while to really come to terms with me too. But at the end of the day, love really did conquer all."

Lexi ordered another round of shots. She downed hers quickly, and offered the second one to me but I declined. I didn't want to get too drunk around Damon again. Shrugging, Lexi downed that shot too.

"So... if you and Stefan have been friends for like a hundred years, that must mean you've seen him have fun at least once right?"

Lexi laughed and then shared some stories I'm sure Stefan would have preferred for her to keep to herself. She told me about how he jumped into the Trevi Fountain stark naked, and their time backstage with Bon Jovi. Unfortunately, Stefan showed up before Lexi could share anymore embarrassing stories.

I found Bonnie standing by an empty pool table and asked her to a game.

"So I told Elena, well I showed her. What I could do." Bonnie said as she walked around the table looking for an easy shot. There wasn't one.

"Oh yeah? How'd that go?" I asked as Bonnie sunk the three ball at a particularly difficult angle. I couldn't see it, but I knew she used magic. "Cheater."

Bonnie shrugged it off, smiling wryly, "it's not cheating, it's a gift." She shot again, without magic and missed. "I think it really cheered her up about Stefan."

"I bet. I wish I could levitate things. Lighting a candle with my mind is only cool so many times."

"Maybe you will be able to, with practice."

Caroline came up to us in mild distress.

"Bonnie I've been looking for you. I'm totally sorry to do this I know it's so Indian giver and I know we're not even supposed to say that anymore but I need my crystal back."

Bonnie paused, leaning on her pool stick, "Why? You said you hated it."

"We agreed it was best to let it go Care." I reminded her.

"Then I saw it on Bonnie and I realize how great it is," Caroline explained, "and I've got three outfits I can coordinate it with so..."

"I can't give it back to you," Bonnie said.

"Well, I didn't want to tell you this but I'm your friend, when you wear it makes you look fat."

"Caroline!" I snapped, but she shrugged it off.

"I'm only saying it as a friend so…"

"I'm sorry Caroline, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"It's mine." Bonnie proclaimed.

"Technically it was Damon's," Caroline corrected.

"Wait, are you trying to get it back for Damon?" I asked. There was a dullness to her eyes, like she wasn't in control, she wasn't herself. How silly of me to think Damon would keep his promise.

"No," she denied. "Maybe, just…" Caroline reached for the necklace but it shocked her. She looked confused at her hand, "Are you wearing polyester?"

"You were really gonna pull it from my neck. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Caroline let out a frustrated noise and stomped away like a child having a tantrum.

"That guy has some serious pull on her." Bonnie commented.

"Yeah, I know. That's something I'm working on." I searched the crowd for Damon and found him talking to Caroline, as if I wasn't angry enough. I marched up to them just as Damon was walking away, I would have chased after him except Caroline turned around. Tears were threatening to spill and I knew my wrath on Damon could wait, my twin needed me.

I enveloped Caroline in a hug

"What did that bastard say?"

"I'm stupid and shallow and a useless waste of space!" She cried.

"He is literal toast," I mumbled. I pulled out of the hug only so I could look Caroline in the eyes. "You know that's not true, Care." We sat down at the bar, my sister grabbed napkins to wipe at her eyes. "Damon is an idiot, and you don't deserve to be treated like that."

"Then how do I deserve to be treated? Bonnie is supposed to be one of my best friends and she won't give me back that necklace. And I asked very nicely at first."

"Why do you even want it back? You didn't want anything to do with it when we gave it to her."

"Am I not allowed to change my mind?"

"Bad night?" The bartender asked.

"The worst. Can I get a drink? A cosmo."

"Sure thing, it's on the house." He said automatically. I had a feeling Lexi's compulsion was still working.

"Cosmo?" I asked, eyeing Caroline's pink drink.

"I don't know, they drink it on Sex and the City." Caroline drank half her drink in one gulp. Then she stared into her glass thoughtfully. "Am I shallow?"

"Do you really want the truth?"

"I don't mean to be. I wanna be deep. I wanna be, like...the abyss deep. But it's true, isn't it? I'm shallow, I am worst than shallow, I'm a kiddie pool!"

"You are not a kiddie pool. Listen to me," I placed my hands on either side of her face, so Caroline had to look me in the eye. "You are an ocean, Caroline Forbes."

"You're just saying that 'cause you have to, 'cause you're my sister."

"You're right, I am your sister. Which means I know you better than anyone else does, especially Damon. And I know that you are more than you appear on the surface, and sure you do have some shallow parts—"

"I knew it..."

"But—there are so many hidden depths left in you that have yet to be discovered."

My sister was drunk, really really drunk. And sad, really really sad. I was always there for her, but she needed more than just my validation now. I was going to have to give Damon a piece of my mind, and my fiery rage, for compelling her anyway and then making her cry. That would be later though, at the moment I was focusing on getting Caroline out of the Grill. She was stumbling everywhere even with me helping her walk.

Caroline fell into one of the booths as we passed by Matt's table.

"Oh hey!" Matt said, surprised.

"Sorry Matty." I apologized.

"I slim-I'm slipped. I slipped." Caroline slurred.

"Hammered, huh?"

"Well...a very nice but not handsome bartender was very kind to me tonight. Unlike the rest of the global universe. Are those curly fries?" Caroline asked as she grabbed one of the fries on the table.

"I'm just gonna get her some coffee, I'll be right back." I left Care in the capable hands of Matt while I tracked down a cup of coffee to help her sober up a little.

While I was waiting for the coffee Matt texted saying he was just going to take Care home. I glanced up to see him carrying her bridal style out of the Grill. I smiled knowing I could trust Matt to take care of my sister.

Since Caroline was safe and on her way home I felt that I could finally give Damon a piece of my mind. He was talking with Lexi at the other end of the bar, I figured Lexi wouldn't mind me interrupting to rip into Damon so I headed over. I stopped midway as I noticed my mom enter the Grill with several deputies and a shaken girl.

The girl was pointing towards the bar where Damon and Lexi were sitting.

One look at that frightened girl and suddenly everything made sense; the vervain that I've only seen at the Salvatore house, why Damon wanted a party at the Grill and why he specifically wanted Stefan and Lexi to come. He was going to solve the town's vampire problem.

I rushed over to them before my mom got to them.

"Lexi you should run." I warned.

Lexi glanced behind me and then with vampire super speed she was gone. I turned back to my mom, who hadn't noticed Lexi had disappeared yet.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I asked innocently. Sheriff Forbes ignored me and turned back to her deputies.

"She's gone. Damn it! Search around town and proceed with extreme caution, she'll be more dangerous now that she knows we're after her." The other deputies left and my mom turned back to me.

"Honey, are you okay? Did you know the woman who was sitting here?" My mom asked, trying not to sound like she's interrogating me.

"I'm fine mom. And no I don't know who the woman was," I lied, "I was just coming over to say hi to Damon."

"Damon." She nodded. The motion cemented my thoughts on Damon's involvement with the vervain supply.

Sheriff Forbes then went to arrest the bartender for not checking ids; she likely ran into Caroline on the way in. I turned on Damon.

"What did you do?"

"I told you I had a plan to fix the Vamp problem and you ruined it!" He said angrily, under his breath.

"Your plan was to pin it on Lexi and what? Let her be staked?" I hit Damon in the chest, he didn't like that and grabbed onto my hand to keep me from hitting him again. I snarled, "That is low, Damon. She's your brother's best friend, how could you do that to him?" The temperature in my hands suddenly grew very hot and Damon released me before he got burned.

"Oh, so now you care about Stefan? That's new."

"Lexi is the only person I know who could get Stefan out of his 'episodes', Damon. I feel a hell of a lot safer knowing she's alive in case we ever need her help. Besides, he's your brother; don't you care about his feelings at all?"

"Did you forget the part last night where I said I have no remorse."

"I don't believe you. You loved Maggie, and you still do. And if I had to guess, somehow why you're here and everything you've done is in memory of that love. Someone who can feel so passionate about another person, they are capable of remorse. Even if they don't believe it themselves."


	9. Episode 9

**Episode 9: Girl's Night**

"_I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."_

_-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland_

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1971**

I was Amanda again, still 12 years old.

Emily and I were walking in the forest, she was leading me somewhere away from town.

"Where are we going Emily?" I asked.

"You are going to help me aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes, of course" I replied. "But I still don't understand what I'm helping you with."

We approached an old abandoned house. It was the house my big sister always told me to stay away from. The one all the neighbor kids said was haunted.

As Emily took me into the house I could hear a hundred different intelligible whispers. I followed Emily to the basement and with each step the whispers got increasingly louder until we reached the center of the basement; there was silence.

"This is the site where a hundred witches were burned at the stake." Emily informed as she circled me. "This is the site where _I_ was burned at the stake." She stopped walking and stood before me, staring at me with intent. "Are you willing to help the Bennett witches? The family you were born to in this life?"

I nodded, unsure of what she meant, but knowing in my heart that whatever it was, it was what this life was intended for.

"Good." Emily replied. "Because this is the place where _you_ will burn too."

She was right, for the next thing I knew I was engulfed in flames. The fire didn't hurt as I expected it too, but still I knew I would burn until I was nothing but ash.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

Damon was avoiding me. Almost a month after the party at the Grill and I hadn't seen nor heard from him. I knew he was still in town though, because I still felt eyes watching me whenever I tended to Maggie's grave. Once, I even saw a figure standing at her grave when I entered the cemetery, but by the time I reached it the man was gone. It had to be Damon.

He hadn't been showing up much in my dreams lately and I was almost able to forget about him during Thanksgiving break, but then my mom mentioned him over dinner and I was forced to remember he existed and how he'd hurt Caroline. Maybe he was steering clear of me to avoid punishment.

Meanwhile, Caroline was still fighting with Bonnie. That amber crystal was putting a strain on our girl group. Elena's been trying to bring us all together to fix it, but they were both so stubborn.

"Hey." Matt said as he passed us on the way into school.

"Hey." Caroline replied, clearly disappointed. She stared at his back as he continued on his way, as if she was expecting something more. She'd gushed to me that when Matt had taken her home after the Grill party she left completely wasted that he had stayed the night and cuddled with her in bed (_It was totally_ _G-rated_, she said), but he'd snuck out before she woke up. I'd jokingly offered to roast him, but she claimed it wasn't necessary. But after seeing the same look of disappointment every school day since then, I was starting to reconsider.

"You should say something." I said.

"Seriously, all I get is a 'hey'? What is that supposed to mean?" She said.

"Not to me! You should say something to him," I clarified. "And please, make it better than that. Because '_hey_'? Just means hey, it's just a greeting. The same one he's been saying for years."

My sister's cheeks were red from blushing in embarrassment.

"Okay, you're right. If I want something more I have to do something about it. I'll talk to him today, after school, on my terms. No '_hey_'s about it." There was a renewed confidence in her eyes and I knew Caroline could handle whatever happened between her and Matt. No roasting necessary.

That evening Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and I were at the Gilbert's making dinner; like we used to before all the supernatural stuff came into our lives. However, this time the tension was thick, especially between Caroline and Bonnie. Caroline was still mad at Bonnie for refusing to give back the necklace, even though she really didn't have to since we gave it to her. Elena and I each gave Caroline a look egging her to make the first move.

Finally, Caroline sighed and turned to Bonnie, "I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."  
Bonnie looked guilty and sheepishly replied, "Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"

Caroline looked annoyed.

"You threw it away?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares," Bonnie explained, "I had to get rid of it."  
"What kind of nightmares?" I asked, concerned.

"You could have just given it back to me." Caroline said.

"Why?" Elena interrupted, "So you could give it back to Damon?"

"Screw Damon." Caroline said, "Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

"Mine's in my bag," Bonnie pointed it out.

I searched Bonnie's bag for her kit while Caroline changed the subject of conversation to Elena and Stefan. My fingers caught on a chain and I lifted it to reveal the amber talisman Caroline and Bonnie were fighting over.

"Uh… are you sure you threw it away Bon-bon?" I asked tentatively, showing the rest of the group the necklace in my hands.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline said angrily, snatching the necklace from me. Elena and Bonnie stood shocked at seeing it again.

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline," Bonnie swore.

"It's true. I watched her throw it into a field!" Elena added.

Caroline was obviously frustrated.

"Then explain it." She demanded, arms crossed.

"Emily." Bonnie said suddenly.

"Emily Bennett?" I clarified.

"Who's Emily Bennett? Your cousin?" Caroline asked, confused.

"A ghost," I clarified.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." The fact that Bonnie was speaking exclusively to Elena and me now upset Caroline very much.

"What is going on?" She burst, "Why is it that I'm not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time."

"That's not true." Elena denied.

"Yes it is." Bonnie corrected, "I can't talk to you, Caroline. You don't listen."

Caroline gasped. "That's not true."

"I'm a witch." Bonnie said flatly.

"Yeah. We know. So is Charlie. I get it, Everybody's part of the witch club, but me."

"Does Caroline know…?" Bonnie lead on, unsure how to finish. She didn't know how much I told Caroline, which if I'm being honest wasn't as much as I should have told her.

"I told her I'm a witch." I clarified, "Well, I showed her." I demonstrated by putting my palm out and letting a small fireball ignite, just as I had the first time I showed Caroline.

"Look, whatever is happening to Charlie is obviously not normal. And if you believe in this stuff too, Bonnie, then... I'm on board." Caroline said, "And to prove just how on board I am with this, I have an idea...Why don't we have a séance?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie said nervously.

"Come on. Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

We set up for a seance in Elena's room. None of use were sure how to go about starting, so Care took the lead prompting Bonnie to call out to her ancestor. After a couple of half-hearted attempts we got a sign: the candles flared up all at once, for a moment hotter and brighter than before.

"Charlie, was that you?" Care asked.

I shook my head. "Wasn't me."

"It's just the air conditioning." Bonnie explained dismissively.

We asked for another sign and after a brief moment of bated breath where we were certain nothing was going to happen the windows burst open. Startled, Bonnie wretched the necklace from her neck and threw it to the ground and at the same moment we were plunged into darkness. When Elena got the lights back on the necklace was gone.

While searching for it, Bonnie got trapped in the bathroom. Emily's work no doubt. Bonnie was terrified and screaming for help. Then she went silent and the doors opened.

Bonnie stood in the middle with her head in her hands. She was wearing the necklace again.

We asked her if she was okay and Bonnie insisted she was fine. But as she was leaving the bathroom I caught her eye and I saw that it wasn't Bonnie in there.

I held Elena back as Bonnie and Caroline left the room.

"That's not Bonnie," I said.

"What do you mean?" Realization struck Elena, "Oh my god! Emily." Emily was already halfway down the stairs when we left the room. "Are you okay?" Elena hesitantly asked our possessed friend.

"I must go." Emily replied.

"She's leaving. I'm leaving." Caroline stated, clearly over this night. The seance and then Bonnie being trapped by magic really shook her up. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her. "Let's go Charlie."

"You guys can't leave!" Elena cried.

"Right, we haven't even done the manipedi's yet," I added.

"So?" Caroline complained, "I've had enough freaky witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me." Emily said, "But, I'll take it from here."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Back to where it all began," she said cryptically. Emily dashed down the rest of the stairs.

"Emily, wait!" I called after her, she turned only briefly to reply.

"I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed. You know where to meet me." And then Emily was out the door.

Elena and I rushed after her, but the door was spelled shut. It only opened when Jeremy opened it from the other side.

"Finally!" Caroline pushed passed him, done with the night. She called back, "Charlie come on!"

"I'm going after Bonnie." I told Elena, "Call Stefan, she's going to the old church."

I arrived at the old ruins of Fell's church just in time to see Emily impale Damon on a tree branch with Bonnie's magic. Involuntarily, my heart clenched in fear at the sight, but I pushed the feeling down. It wasn't anything he couldn't heal from.

"Maggie." Emily nodded toward me.

"Emily." I nodded back, then turning to the vampire I asked, "Damon? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just hanging around," he bit out sarcastically. "Mind helping me down?"

"Uh… I think that's more a job for Stefan." I replied.

"Are you here to help me, Maggie?" Emily asked. I knew she wanted to destroy the necklace, and for that she would need my help to do it.

"I promised you I would." I picked up a long stick and helped her carve out a large pentacle in the dirt.

"Charlie, don't." Damon protested. "You have no idea the level of backstabbery you are assisting right now."

He tried to pry himself off the tree, but the branch piercing through his stomach made it difficult for him to move on his own.

Soon enough Elena and Stefan arrived. Stefan pulled Damon off the tree. Damon dropped to his knees from the pain as the hole in his stomach began to heal.

"This is why I feed on people," Damon muttered.

Emily greeted Stefan and then with prompting explained why the necklace had to be destroyed, why the tomb couldn't be opened: in order to save Katherine she had to save all the vampires that were in the church.

"I don't care about them. I just want Katherine." Damon said.

"I knew I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth." Stefan said, frustrated, "This isn't about love, is it? This is about revenge."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Damon countered.

"Damon, you can't do this," Stefan said.

"Why not? They killed 27 people, and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get."

"27 vampires, Damon. They were vampires." Stefan argued, "You can't just bring them back."

"This town deserves this."

"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened 145 years ago."

"There is nothing innocent about these people, and don't think for a second it won't happen again. They already know too much, and they'll burn your little grandwitch right next to us when they find out. Trust me."

"Things are different now," Emily insisted.

"Don't do this," Damon begged.

"I can't free them." Emily said firmly, "I won't."

She grabbed ahold of my hands as we stood in the center of the pentacle. I could feel her magic latching onto my soul, channeling its energy. Together we chanted, "Incendia!"

The flames ignited along the form of the pentacle, creating a fiery wall between us and the others.

Damon begged us to stop.

Unfazed, Emily tossed the necklace into the air, where it exploded, destroying the necklace for good. Emily's spirit departed from Bonnie's body almost instantaneously and her body fell into my arms. The flames around us died down.

A few moments later Bonnie recovered from her possession, looking confused. She had no recollection of what just happened.

Furious, Damon rushed forward, biting into Bonnie's neck before anyone could stop him.

With strength I didn't know I had, I pulled Damon off.

Bonnie crumpled to the ground, faint. Before I could yell at him, Damon ran off into the woods.

Stefan kneeled down to check Bonnie's pulse. "She's alive, but barely. I can save her." He bit into his wrist and let the blood flow into Bonnie's mouth. The wound on Bonnie's neck immediately began to heal.

Bonnie came back to consciousness soon after her neck healed. She was confused and horrified, and it was probably a good thing Stefan and Damon weren't around at the moment.

"I don't understand, what happened to me?" Bonnie said in shock, "He attacked me, and his face was like…" she couldn't find the words to describe it and gestures towards her eyes.

"How do you feel? Are you okay?" I asked, rubbing circles on her back.

"I'm fine. It's just this blood. I don't…" Bonnie froze up as Stefan walked back into the clearing. I put myself in front of her, partially blocking her from Stefan's view. Bonnie was gripping to my arm from behind.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Stefan put is hands up in surrender.

"What's going on,Charlie? Elena?" Bonnie said, looking to Elena for answers.

"I'll explain everything, Bonnie. Okay? Let's just get out of here." Bonnie wasn't moving, her grip on me grew tighter. Elena tried again, "Bonnie. Bonnie, look at me. Trust me. He's not going to hurt you. Come on. Come on." Finally, Bonnie let go of me and followed Elena, she walked like a skittish kitten past Stefan.

"Where did Damon go?" I asked Stefan after the two had walked out of sight.

"You should stay away from him, Charlie. Damon is dangerous to be around." Stefan warned.

"I know, but he's not dangerous to me. If you won't tell me where he is I'll just find him myself."

I found Damon sitting in front of Maggie's gravestone, one of the forget-me-nots I planted in his hand.

"Stefan thinks you want to save Katherine because you still love her," I said. Damon didn't respond, his stare unwavering at Maggie's gravestone. "But that's not true. You don't want to save Katherine...you want to kill her."

Damon looked up, "How did you know that?"

"You told me. Remember? At the dinner party, you said if you ever saw her again you'd kill her yourself."

"You remember that?" He sounded surprised.

"I remember everything about you Damon. Honestly, I probably think about you too much, but I can't help it. We have a history...even if you won't acknowledge it." Damon was staring at me and it made me nervous, I rambled on, "Is Maggie the reason you want to kill Katherine?"

"Yes. She got between me and Maggie and now the only woman I've ever truly loved is dead." He was looking at me, but I felt like he wasn't seeing me.

"But she's not, Damon, not really. She lived on. Just... as someone else."

"You're not Maggie." Damon said stubbornly, "Emily might think so, but you're not."

"You're right, I'm not Maggie. I've lived many different lives since her. Each life has brought about some change, but that doesn't mean she's not still a part of me."

"So what does that mean? You're in love with me, you want to date me? What?"

"No!" I said quickly. I couldn't after everything he'd done to Caroline, to Bonnie. Even if I had to push down tender memories of a time long past. "I don't know… I just don't want you to feel like you're alone or that you have to avenge Maggie's death, because you don't. I mean, is it worth it? You've used, abused, hurt, killed people in the name of your revenge. Is it really worth ruining the lives of other people? Is that what you believe Maggie would have wanted?"

Suddenly, Damon loomed over me. I took a startled step back. His hands caressed the sides of my face and before I could react his lips were on mine. It was intense and passionate and before any other thoughts crossed my mind I was kissing Damon back.

I was the one who broke the kiss.

My mind and my heart were out of sync. I was left feeling confused. Damon looked to be in the same boat.

"You're not Maggie." He repeated, but his hands still held my face, his thumb stroked my cheek.

"You know you aren't the same person Maggie fell in love with either." I said, my hands reached up and covered his. "You've changed too."

Almost reluctantly I removed Damon's hands from my face. This couldn't happen again.


	10. Episode 10

**Episode 10: Career Fair**

_There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky, and you ask "What if I fall?"_

_Oh, but my darling what if you fly?_

_-Erin Hanson_

* * *

**Bulgaria, 1490**

The sound of new born baby screams pierced the air. My sister, my sweet baby sister had just given birth. The baby, a little girl, was given to our aunt immediately out of the womb.

"Can I hold her?" Katerina asked. Our father, stern and disapproving, said no. Kat begged and begged to hold her baby girl just once.

"Please, father. Allow her this one comfort before you rip away mother and daughter forever." I pleaded, tears for my sister trailed down my face.

But our father was an uncompromising man.

"No. She disgraced this family! I can not let it stand." Our father huffed. My heart broke more and it must have shown on my face because my fathers cold features softened just a little, "This way will be easier for them both, trust me."

Father and our Aunt left us then, taking my sisters baby with them.

I swooped to my sisters side.

"I'm sorry Kat, I tried my best." I swiped away the tears on her cheeks and brushed back her sweat drenched hair.

"I know Tori. I should have listened to you. You warned me." I did. I told her not to fool around with that boy, that he would only end up breaking her heart. But he was charming and handsome and full of false promises. And Katerina Petrova had fallen for all of it. Now that arrogant boy was nowhere to be found as my sister had to face the consequences.

"We'll go somewhere. Far away from father. Together." I whispered, holding onto my sisters hand.

"No. Father is angry with me, not you. I'll go into banishment alone."

"Don't be silly. You're my sister, I love you. I'd do anything for you, even face the fires of hell."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

I woke up early that morning feeling conflicted, both about Damon and Katherine. The kiss last night had been surprising, but it only confirmed what I'd been thinking since we met again: despite our past, Damon and I were different people now. I couldn't let myself be distracted by old memories that had no place in the now. It seemed that was advice I had to take concerning Kat too.

"Good morning, mom." I yawned as I poured myself some coffee.

"Morning sweetie." She kissed my temple as she handed the creamer she knew I wanted.

Mom was already dressed in uniform. The news was going on in the living room, something about another animal attack.

"There's been another attack? I thought the, uh, mountain lion was caught?" And Damon was over killing random people, it must be another vampire.

"So did we." The worry must have showed on my face. "But I've got my best deputies on it. You kids are too young to be worrying about this."

"Don't forget about the Career Fair at school." I called as the sheriff left for work.

"Hey Caroline, hey Charlie." Matt greeted as we entered the school grounds. He smiled brightly at Caroline and walked with us down the hallway.

The other night I had come home to Caroline and Matt close together on the couch with a bunch of snacks watching TV. Matt had offered for me to join them, but I knew Care wanted some alone time with him and politely declined. Besides I was feeling guilty about the kiss with Damon.

Those feelings hadn't gone away by the time Caroline came down for her morning coffee and it kept bubbling up in the pit of my stomach the entire drive to school. We didn't keep secrets like this from each other and it was eating away at me.

"So, Care I found the perfect movie to watch next time." Matt handed over a DVD case of the movie _Die Hard_.

"This isn't a Christmas movie." Caroline said, handing the DVD back. I'm assuming she suggested holiday movies since it is December now.

"What are you talking about, it totally is." Matt playfully argued.

"It _is_ set at Christmas Eve." I added.

"Next thing you know she'll say _Lethal Weapon_ isn't a Christmas movie either." Matt said, looking to me.

Caroline rolled her eyes, a wide smile on her face.

"I've never seen it, but by the title I can confidently say it's not," she said.

"What? You've never seen _Lethal Weapon_? Ok, now I definitely know what we're watching next." Matt and Caroline walked into our first period class making plans for their next hang out. I caught sight of Bonnie and Elena across the hall and decided to check on them.

"Did I miss something?" Elena commented as I walked up, indicating where Matt and Caroline were, "Isn't it a little weird?"

"I think it's cute." I said, "they just started hanging out a couple days ago."

Bonnie nodded. "She needs someone nice like him, as opposed to a homicidal vampire like Damon."

"Yeah…" I said awkwardly, the kiss I shared with said homicidal vampire still fresh in my mind. "How are you doing with all that? You were still getting used to the idea of being a witch."

"Honestly, I'm freaked out. Damon attacked me. I could be dead right now." Bonnie replied, "But I'm also grateful." At the questioning looks Elena and I shot at her, Bonnie answered, "To Stefan. He saved my life."

While Bonnie asked about Stefan (the Salvatore boys had been a little too quiet the past couple days) I got a text from Damon asking for my help after school.

_What kind of help? _I replied.

He answered: _The vampire hunting kind_

That afternoon I stood outside an abandoned warehouse, my phone in one hand and in the other I clutched the vampire compass, which was pointing toward the ominous building.

"So what now?" I asked into my phone, Damon was on the other end.

"Just wait. I'll be there in a minute." Damon replied. Suddenly, Damon appeared behind me, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Don't do that!" I snapped, my back to him. I still found it difficult to look him in the eye. Unfazed, Damon wrapped his arms around me. I stuttered our nervously, "What are you doing?"

"You can give me that." Damon plucked the compass from my hands. I stepped out of his radius and turned around.

"So, why couldn't you do this yourself?" I asked.

"Vampire compass," Damon pointed to the compass and then to himself, "Vampire. I interfere with the signal."

I rolled my eyes, pushing down a smile at his smart-ass response. I glanced back at the closed doors of the warehouse.

"Alright, so what's the game plan?"

"The plan is you go back home and I stake a vampire." Damon showed me the stake he brought, a long piece of sharp dark wood.

"I can help." I offered, "You don't have to do this alone."

"If I didn't know any better," Damon started, that annoyingly charming smirk on his face, "I might actually think you cared about me."

"Maybe I do." I said honestly, staring him in the eyes. Damon starred back just as intensely, he took a step closer and reached his arms out to my sides. I told myself we weren't going to kiss again. Luckily, Damon wasn't thinking about that.

"Charlotte," Damon said surprisingly stern, "Go home. I got this."

"Fine. Stay safe."

That night I returned to school for the Career fair with Caroline and Bonnie. We roamed the booths together, collecting all the free pens and stress balls while trying on different professions like hats at the mall.

"Come on Bonnie, you're the psychic, what does our future hold for us?" Caroline asked after a lackluster presentation on the world of accounting.

"I wish it was that easy." Bonnie said, shuffling the various pamphlets and flyers we've picked up in her hands.

"Don't worry Care, I know exactly what our future look likes," I jested, "You're going to be a world famous actress, Bon-bon's you're celebrity psychic, and I'm going to compose all the music for your movies and be the next Hans Zimmer."

Caroline was laughing until she spotted Matt and Elena talking, her mood changed drastically and she quickly left the room.

"Caroline!" I called, rushing after her. I found her leaning against the school wall by the restrooms. "Care, you know nothing is going on between them right? They're still friends, they're gonna talk. Elena made her choice and it wasn't Matt."

"I know that!" Caroline cried, "But what about Matt's choice? He's not over her."

"Well, he's gonna have to."

"So, what? I'm just the rebound?"

"Maybe that's what you both need." I suggested. She scoffed and looked away from me. "Hear me out. Isn't Matt technically your rebound from… you-know." It was hard talking about my sister's past relationship with Damon. Reconciling my anger about how he treated her and Maggie's residue feelings was near impossible.

"You only need a rebound if you still have feelings for the person you broke up with. Which I have none."

"Hey, Caroline, Charlotte." Our Mom called as she walked up the hallway, still in her uniform.

"Hi, mom." I hugged her quickly, while Caroline straightened herself out on the wall.

"So what does the future hold for my girls?" Mom asked the same question we'd been asking all night.

I shrugged unsure, "I was considering composing or teaching…"

Mom smiled brightly at me. "You'd be a wonderful music teacher."

"I was thinking more Occult studies, like Sheila Bennet." I clarified. Her eyes widened and her smile lowered a little.

"Oh. Okay." She took a deep breath as it processed. I'm sure it really wasn't something she wanted me to say, then she turned to Caroline, "And what about you honey?"

"I'll show you." Caroline perked up and grabbed our mom by the arm, leading her away.

"What are you doing?" Mom asked as she was dragged along by Caroline.

"Following my future." Caroline took our mom to a booth and pointed toward the banner. "There it is."

"Broadcast journalism?" Mom asked, her eyebrows knit together.

"Yes. Broadcast journalism." Caroline repeated.

"That'd be perfect for you!" I said supportively.

But our mom was looking at her skeptically.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't even read the paper." Mom said seriously.

Caroline scoffed and walked out without a word. I sent an apologetic look to our mom and followed my sister outside the school.

"I can't believe her!" Caroline exploded, "How come she can never be supportive of me? She didn't say anything when you said you wanted to study magic."

"I don't know if that qualifies as supportive," I mumbled.

"Well at least she didn't brush it off."

"I don't think she meant to be dismissive," I said, "she kinda had a point."

"Which was?"

"You haven't really shown an interest in journalism before."

"It's not about the news!" Caroline burst, "it's the presentation, the ratings, the scoop."

"If it's any consolation, I think you'd do great in TV." But it didn't matter, I wasn't mom.

Caroline crossed her arms stubbornly and got out her phone, "I'm calling Bonnie, I'm ready to go home." After a beat and no answer she left a message, "Bonnie, where are you? Charlie and I are ready to go. We'll be outside."

"Stay here, I'll go find Bonnie," I offered knowing Caroline didn't want to run into our mom just yet, "let her know we're ready to go."

I searched around for Bonnie and eventually found her at the booth for Whitmore College talking to Sheila. She said she'd be out in a moment so I walked back towards Caroline.

"Hey Charlie, you have a ride home?" Matt asked as we passed each other in the entrance hall.

"Uh, yeah, Care and I rode here with Bonnie," I answered.

"Just making sure, I just saw Logan Fell give Caroline a ride home." My blood went cold, Vicki had killed Logan. That wasn't good.

I rushed back outside, clumsily trying to call Damon as I went.

"Not a great time Charlotte," Damon snarled from the other end of the phone. He sounded like he was in pain.

"Your vampire has Caroline." I said, ignoring him.

"Don't worry Charlotte, I'll take care of it." He groaned.

"For some reason that makes me worry more. Just hurry."

"I'm going after her too, Charlie." Stefan said from behind. I hadn't even noticed he was there. Then with his vamp-speed Stefan was gone.

There I stood in the school parking lot: alone, angry, and worried. My thoughts ran rampant. I should be out there rescuing my sister.

"I can do something," I said to myself, frustrated, "I can help."

I wasn't as helpless as Damon seemed to think I was.

All the rage and anxiety I had bottled inside of me ignited and once again I felt that comforting warmth encompass me. I closed my eyes as the feeling grew more intense. I could feel the fire whip around me burning hot, but not harmful. The flames licked up from my legs, my arms, it became my hair as it licked the sides of my face. Suddenly the energy released and I felt weightless, free. When I opened my eyes I was staring at the ground as it rushed past, from about thirty feet high. I was flying.

Soon enough I could see the channel 9 news van at an intersection. Stefan and Damon were both there already, with Logan thrown to the ground and a bullet wound in his gut.

To the surprise of both Salvatore brothers, I landed by the van in a flash of light. The fire that surrounded me dispersed harmlessly into the air.

"Okay. Maybe she's not a witch." I heard Damon mumble.

I ignored the shocked looks as I opened the passenger side of the van where Caroline sat unconscious. I checked her over to make sure she was still alive and okay and once I was satisfied I called Stefan over to take her home.

Damon was on the phone with the Sheriff, my mom, and when he hung up he vamped over to the van and rummaged around the trunk.

"All right Charlotte, you showed off your new power and checked on your sister. Now it's time to go back home." Damon said, a tire iron in his hand.

"No." I stood my ground, facing Logan, "This creep hurt Caroline, and he's not getting away with it." Flames ignited in my palms.

Logan's eyes widened in fear. He stammered, "I used to babysit you, Charlie. You don't want to hurt me."

"Yeah, and then you kidnapped my sister and threatened her life. I don't take that lightly. " I raised my hands threateningly, but Damon stopped me.

"Hold on Firestarter, not yet." Damon pointed to Logan with the tire iron, "Who turned you?"

"I told you I don't know."

Damon darted his eyes between me and Logan, "protip: Fire kills vampires. Is that your final answer?"

"I don't know who turned me!" He yelled.

"Oh, well," Damon gestures for me to go, "have at it, Ghost Rider."

As I advanced on him and the flames in my hands grew larger and brighter, Logan became more nervous. Logan screamed and raised his hands in surrender just as I readied to throw balls of fire at him.

"Wait, wait! I do know." He admitted. I paused, lowering my hands only slightly, and looked to Damon. He was the one with the questions.

"You're lying." Damon said.

"You think you're the only one who wants to get in that tomb underneath the old church?" Logan said.

"Damon, no." I warned. I could see the flash of vengeance in his eyes. It didn't matter what I had to say on the matter, he was stubborn.

"If you're lying to me, I will end you myself." Damon said, shaking the tire iron.

Logan shook his head and continued on in desperation.

"I am not lying. There is another way to break the spell. We can help you. Meet me at the old church."

Sirens were going off in the distance, the telltale sign my mother would be there soon.

"We're not doing that." I said and then before Damon or myself could stop me I lit Logan Fell on fire. The flames engulfed him just as quickly as they had Vicki.

"No!" Damon yelled.

There was a strange numbness in my gut as I looked at Logan burning. He was screaming, but the sound didn't quite reach my ears.

The sirens were getting closer. I ran off before the cop cars were in sight, taking a shortcut down an alley. The last thing I needed was my mom seeing me there with a burnt vampire corpse. I walked to the grill and ended up calling Bonnie for a ride home. I didn't know how, or if I even could, fly on demand. I'd only ever done it on accident.

Caroline was asleep in her bed when I got home. I sat down next to her and stroked her hair. Tears escaped my eyes as I looked down at my sister's peaceful face. I'd almost lost her, and then I killed someone. But I didn't care that Logan was dead and I think that scared me most.

"How is she?" Mom asked quietly from the doorway.

"Okay, I think. She's just sleeping now. I haven't been able to talk to her. I don't know what she remembers…" I broke off, a sob escaping my lips.

Mom sat down too, her arm encircling me. We both sat in silence for a moment, Mom hugging me, my head on her shoulder as we both looked at Caroline, thankful she wasn't more hurt.

Mom kissed my temple. "You get some rest, sweetie. I'll take care of it from here."

I walked into my bedroom expecting to sleep not to find Damon Salvatore standing in it. I closed my door behind me.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"Get changed. We're going on a road trip," he said.

"Um… no we're not."

"Sure we are. Pick something that sits well in a car, maybe bring some extra panties just in case." I ignored the suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"I can't just go on a spur of the moment road trip, Damon." I crossed my arms, keeping a stern stance, "Caroline was just taken hostage and I've got school. Plus, my mom would freak."

"Come on, Caroline is safe now. The vamp that took her is dead, thanks to you." I looked away at the reminder. "You deserve a break, it'll be fun."

"Are you forgetting the other vampire that turned Logan? There's still trouble out there."

Damon sighed.

"There's always trouble," he uncrossed my arms and held my hands, his thumbs stroked their backs soothingly. "But it's not attacking right now, and even if it did Saint Stefan and his hero complex are here to tackle it. Besides I want to take you to a witch that might be able to enlighten us about what brand of supernatural you are."

"You want to go on a road trip to help... me?" I looked at Damon skeptically, "Why do I find that so hard to believe."

"Because it's entirely out of character." Damon smiled that deviously charming smile, "Come on Charlie, I want to prove to you I haven't changed too much."

I think I could get whiplash from talking to Damon. First he's the villain, then he's sweet and he just wants to help. He vehemently denies that I'm Maggie, or at least a version of her, but now he wants me to believe he can still be the same guy she fell in love with? I didn't have the time to unpack Damon's motivations.

"Okay…" I relented, "But only if Bonnie will cover for me. I can't just disappear, my mom would have every cop in the state looking for me."

* * *

_**A/N: **_Thank you so much everyone for the follows, favorites, and reviews! They really energize me to write more! Feel free to leave a review for any comments, questions, or concerns.

_Liv_: I loved reading all the comments, I'm so glad you're enjoying my story. And yes, Charlie will have a past with the Originals too.


	11. Episode 11

**Episode 11: Road Trip**

_In order to rise from its own ashes a phoenix first must burn.  
-Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents._

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

I was out in the yard, humming an old Irish tune while hanging the linens, as I was oft to do when I had a lot to think about. Tensions in town had risen as the townsfolk realized they were infested with Vampires. They would soon be taking action to rid themselves of the plight.

Katerina—Miss Pierce had become insufferable at the estate, allowing me no peace.

"Oh, Maggie," Kat sang.

Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

I sighed before turning around. "Yes, Miss Pierce?" I gasped at the sight I was greeted to. Damon was standing next to Katherine, a shotgun in his hand pointed at me. "Damon what are you doing? What is this?" I asked Katerina.

"You're proving to be a real thorn in my side, sestra. I may not be able to kill you, but he can."

"Damon, my love, you don't have to do this."

Damon hesitated, the barrel of the gun fell a little, his hands were shaking. He was trying to resist the compulsion that forced him to aim the gun at me. Kat noticed. She stepped in front of him, staring into his eyes to rework the compulsion. When she stepped away Damon's aim straightened.

"I'm sorry, Maggie." He said, tears falling down his eyes.

"No," I pleaded, "Damon you can fight this."

"Fire!" Kat ordered.

Damon pulled the trigger.

* * *

**Georgia, 2009**

I woke up with a gasp in the passenger seat of Damon's car. Elena was in the backseat yelling for Damon to pull over. I knew we should have just taken her home when we came across her crashed car last night. But, no. Damon always had to have something over his brother.

Elena was unbuckled and attempting to climb out of the back seat before the convertible even came to a complete stop on the side of the road. She was still sore from the crash and struggled with the task. Damon rushed over to her side to help her. I got out of the car calmly, at a human speed.

Elena pushed Damon away the second she got her feet on the ground.

"I'm fine. We have to go back."

"Oh come on. Look—" Damon started.

"We can't go back," I interrupted from the side of the car. Elena's eyes flashed to me in surprise. "We're almost there, it'd be pointless to turn back now. Besides, Damon promised me a fun road trip. Might as well make the best of it."

"Why are you letting him do this?" She asked me.

"I didn't _let_ him do anything." I said, sending a glare Damon's way. "I told him we should have dropped you off before we left Mystic Falls, but Damon does what he wants."

Elena pleaded to Damon to take her back, that she couldn't go to Georgia, but he wasn't having it.

"Well, you're _in_ Georgia." Damon wiggled his fingers towards her bare neck, "Without your magical little necklace, I might add. I can very easily make you...agreeable."

"Damon!" I said sharply. Elena's cell phone rang from the backseat. "I'll get it." I looked at the caller ID and answered, "Hi Stefan, how can I help you?"

"Charlie? Where's Elena? Why do you have her phone? Is she okay?"

Damon plucked the phone from my hand and answered.

"She's right here. And, yes, she's fine." I couldn't hear Stefan on the other side—no vamp hearing— but I could imagine how much more upsetting it must be now that he knew Damon was with us. "He wants to talk to you." Damon said to Elena, but curiously she didn't want to talk to him. "Yeah. I don't really think she wants to talk to you right now." Even if Damon's smirk wasn't a tell, I could practically hear Stefan yelling threats. "You have a good day. Mm-hmm. Bye-now." Damon hung-up before Stefan could say anything else.

"Look, no one knows where I am. Can we please just go back?" Elena asked.

"We're almost there." Damon repeated.

"Where is there?!" Elena asked, looking between me and Damon.

When Damon didn't answer right away I did, "A dive bar just outside Atlanta. Damon knows the owner. Some witch who can tell me what I am."

"How are you so cool with this?" Elena asked me, "Aren't you worried about what your mom is gonna do when she finds you missing?"

"My mom thinks I spent the night at Bonnie's, and that I got sick and am stuck at her Grams' place." I said, nonchalantly.

"Bonnie agreed to cover for you going out of state with Damon?"

I shrugged. "More or less. She didn't know Damon was going to be here. Oh, come on, Elena. I need a break from Mystic Falls, and from what I can tell, so do you."

"Trust me. Your problems are still going to be there when you get home." Damon added, "Look. Step away from your life for five minutes."

Elena looked as if she was going to argue.

"Five minutes!" I reiterated. I hadn't realized how much I really needed this trip until now, when it was almost cut short. Elena acquiesced, but first she made Damon promise not to compel her. She took her phone back and climbed into the car.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, looking at Elena through the rear view mirror.

"Talk about what?"

"You and Stefan, duh? Why didn't you want to talk to him?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Charlie."

"Oh come on, Elena. I'll tell you a secret if you tell me yours." I sung, eliciting a small smile from her.

"Not right now, Charlie." She said, glancing at Damon.

That afternoon we arrived at 'Bree's Bar'.

"No. No, it can't be. Damon. My honey pie." The bartender said as we approached. She was a beautiful woman, probably in her 40's, and as soon as Damon was within reach she grabbed his face and kissed him. I assumed that was Bree. Elena and I shared a look at the display. When Bree released Damon she got out some shot glasses and shouted, "Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness!" She poured some shots for the people sitting at the bar. "Drink up!"

Damon and Bree took their shots, then Bree poured two more for Elena and I.

"So, how'd he rope you two in?" She asked us.

"We're not roped in," I said.

At the same Elena said, "I'm dating his brother."

Bree set out each shot in from of us and as she placed mine she said wisely, "Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride."

Elena just looked at her shot glass, but I was pretty sure we were going to be here for a while so I gulped mine down.

"So, how did you two meet?" Elena innocently asked, looking between Damon and the bartender.

"College," Bree answered.

"You went to college?" Elena looked to Damon with surprise.

"I'm sure he's been to a college campus," I said, smirking at Damon. Flashes of images of Damon locked away underneath Whitmore College ran through my mind, I winced at the memory. The ensuing headache made it difficult for me to focus on Bree's story, but I caught the gist of it.

About twenty years ago she fell in love with Damon. He was probably using her at the time for his plot to kill Katherine, because, as I already knew, she's a witch.

"So, what is it that you want?" She asked, knowing Damon wasn't there for just a social call.

Elena excused herself as her phone rang, it was her Aunt Jenna, and walked outside. After she was gone Damon turned to the witch conspiratorially.

"I need another way to get into the tomb," he said.

"Seriously?" I scoffed.

"What? Like you didn't know I had an ulterior motive." He turned back to the witch, "Come on, there's gotta be another way."

"After all these years, you're still obsessed with Katherine." Bree said, shaking her head. "How do you even know she's still alive?"

"Kat's the most conniving bitch I know, but she's a survivor. She's still alive." I said. Bree looked at me strangely.

"And just how do you know Katherine? I didn't peg you for a vampire, and I got a sense for those things now."

"I'm so glad you asked, because that's why _I'm_ here." I gave Damon an annoyed look before smiling back at Bree. "I don't know what I am, but I was hoping you could tell me." I tried explaining all the strange things that have been happening to me; the memories of past lives, the fire, the flying.

Bree nodded her head along as if those were all perfectly normal things for a teenager.

"I've heard stories of women like that, from some witches I met in New Orleans. Give me your hand honey." I did as she asked. Bree took my hand in her own, turning it over so she could look at my palm. Her index finger traced my life line. She let out a soft gasp. "Oh, yeah, I know what you are Babydoll, but I can hardly believe it. You're a Phoenix."

"Like the bird?" Damon laughed. "You've got to be kidding."

"That explains how she flew don't it?" Bree retorted.

"No offense, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a bird," I said, but the more I thought about it the more right it felt.

"The way I heard it," Bree explained, "the Phoenix was a bird that one day turned itself into a girl."

"Great you're a mystical fire bird," Damon said dismissively. "Can we get back to helping me get into that tomb?"

"I already did." Bree said, her hands on her hips, "Twenty years ago. Remember? Three easy steps: Comet. Crystal. Spell."

"There's a little problem with number two." Damon said, "I don't have the crystal."

"That's it, Damon. There is no other way. It's Emily's spell." On the surface Bree's words had a finality to them, but she stood with less confidence than before and I could tell that there was more she wasn't saying.

"What about a new spell with a new crystal that overrides Emily's spell?" Damon suggested hopefully.

Bree shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, baby. Emily's spell is absolute. You can't get into that tomb."

Damon's face fell. The heartbroken look I saw there made me want to help him even if I didn't agree with what he was doing.

"What about me? Could I help open the tomb?"

"No offense Jean Grey," Damon's voice was cutting, whether he intended for it or not, "but how is your new found supernatural heritage going to help?"

"Maggie gave the crystal to Emily. It wasn't just powered by the comet, it had her Phoenix power as well," I explained. "My power."

"Well, that is one piece of the puzzle." Bree said thoughtfully.

"And the other pieces?" Damon asked. Bree hesitated and Damon jumped on it, "Come on Bree, there's something you're not telling me."

"Emily's grimoire," she revealed, "her spellbook. If you know how she closed the tomb the reversal process will be in her book. Find that and you can open the tomb."

"Where is this book?" Damon pressed.

"I don't know."

Damon was tense and I worried he might hurt somebody. I put my hand on Damon's arm reassuringly. It seemed to calm him down.

"Hey...at least now you have a lead."

After making sure Damon wasn't going to kill anyone I walked outside to check on Elena. She had just finished her phone call and was clearly upset with whoever she was talking with.

"Hey, Elena you okay?" She turned to me, it was obvious she wasn't, her emotions were painted on her face. "Do you wanna talk about what happened between you and Stefan, now?"

Elena debated in her mind, she finally said, "He lied. He lied about Katherine."

"Oh, did you find out you look just like her." I blurted out. Perhaps I should have used more tact.

Elena stared at me clearly betrayed.

"You knew? How did you know?"

"I knew her, in my past lives." I put my arm out for Elena, inviting her in, "come on, let's go inside and talk about it. Damon's getting cheesy fries."

The three of us sat a table sharing a basket of cheesy fries, the good kind, with bacon bits thrown in for extra flavor.

"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine...does that make me part vampire?" Elena asked between bites.

I snorted.

"Vampires can't have children." I informed.

"But we love to try." Damon smirked suggestively. I threw a clean fry at him.

"Don't be gross. Kat had a baby before she was turned, if you're related to her it's likely from that child."

"How do you know that?" Elena asked.

"Full disclosure time," I lowered my voice, "She was my sister."

"Bullshit!" Damon spat out.

"It's true," I insisted. "Before Maggie, before she was even called Katherine. 1400's Bulgaria, there was Katerina and Viktoria Petrova."

"This is crazy." Elena ate another fry. "Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

"Don't be silly. You're nothing like Kat. If you were he probably wouldn't want to date you. She _compelled_ him to love her. Trust me, Stefan hates her almost as much as Damon does."

"How can you even eat?" Elena asked as we watched Damon devour a mass of fries, cheese, and bacon bits."If technically you're supposed to be…" She trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase it.

"Dead?" Damon whispered. He laughed good-naturedly. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

Bree came up and handed Damon and I a beer each.

"I'll have one too." Elena requested, surprising all of us. She blushed, shrinking a little under our attention. "Time out, remember? For five minutes? Yeah, well that five minutes is going to need a beer."

Bree smiled at her and handed a beer to Elena.

"I propose a toast," I declared, raising my bottle. "To five minutes." We clinked our bottles and took a drink of our beers. In a surprising move Elena chugged hers until it was gone.

That moment unlocked something in Elena that had been tucked away since her parents died.

I was sitting next to Elena at the bar, she had just finished chugging her second beer when Damon came over with a couple shots for me and himself.

"I bet I could drink mine faster than you." Elena challenged after Damon and I finished.

"Oh yeah?" Damon asked playfully, "Let's get some more shots then."

Soon it had been two rounds already, Elena having beaten both Damon and I, we were lined up for a third round and it looked like Elena was winning that one too. She placed her glass upside down on the bar and clapped her hands, dancing a little in triumph.

"That's three!" She said proudly. She looked to Damon and pouted playfully. "Aw, do you need a bib?"

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." He quipped.

It was nice seeing Elena let loose and enjoying herself again. I got off my stool and wrapped my arm around Elena.

"Damon, I think I'm seeing a ghost. The ghost of my best friend having fun again."

Elena rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Who's ready for another round?"

Whatever Elena thought she could handle, I was feeling the effects of two beers and four shots.

"I think it's time to switch to beer or water," I said.

"Couldn't agree more. Care for a dance break?" Damon offered me his hand and I took it, allowing him to lead me to the dance floor.

I watched, mesmerized as Damon moved to the beat, humming along to _Hooked on a Feeling._

"Someone's in a good mood." I commented just after Damon twirled me out and back in.

"Why shouldn't I be? I'm out with two pretty girls and I've got a lead on the road to retribution." He twirled me out again, "It's been a good day."

Later, Elena and I found our way to the pool table while Damon stayed by the bar catching up with Bree. We were both so drunk that it was a pretty even game. I wasn't paying too much attention to the game, but collectively I think we sunk maybe three balls.

"So, why did Damon bring me along?" Elena asked as she lined up a shot. It hit the ball but bounced off the side of the table, missing the pocket.

"Well," I started as I moved around the pool table, "we found you all damsel-in-distress-like, so naturally we stopped and helped you out." I stopped to lean on my pool stick as I continued, "I wanted to drop you off at home, but Damon loves to piss off Stefan. I'm glad you're here with us though, I think we both needed some time away." I took my shot, missing the intended ball entirely and hitting one of Elena's.

"I did used to be more fun." Elena said as she got ready to hit the same ball I'd just accidentally lined up for her.

"You're still fun." I corrected.

Her phone started ringing and Elena stumbled a bit as she took it out of her pocket.

"Hello?" Elena answered, one finger in her ear as she tried to hear over the music of the bar. "Jenna? Hang on." Elena stepped out to hear better.

I waited by the pool table for a few minutes but when I felt she'd been gone too long I went out to search for her.

"Hello? Elena?" I called out. I stepped further out from the bar to try and find her. Someone landed behind me, covering my eyes and mouth before I could react. I almost lost my balance but they held me up.

"Guess who?" The person said from behind me. I'd only met them once, but I recognized the voice.

She uncovered my mouth and I answered, "Lexi?"

She let go of me entirely and I spun around to face the smiling blonde. "Hey, you're right!"

"Oh my god, It's so good to see you." We hugged like we were already good friends.

"Thanks to you," She said, acknowledging my part in her survival. We released the hug and she gestured around the corner of the bar. "Wanna meet my boyfriend?"

"The love of your unlife? Of course."

Lexi lead me around the building to where Elena and a brown haired guy were talking.

Elena was still drunk and leaned on the guy as she introduced him to the amusement of Lexi and I.

"Charlie! This is…Lee, Lexi's boyfriend."

"He's cute," I said in approval.

"Lexi, didn't you say your boyfriend was human?" Elena asked. I guess Lee had done some sort of vampire trick before I got there.

"I was." He answered.

"You turned him?" Elena had so many questions in her eyes, it's like she couldn't fathom why Lexi would do it. To me the answer seemed obvious and Lee confirmed what I thought.

"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

Elena and I must have been sobering up in the cold for awhile because Damon came out to look for us.

"Charlie! Elena!" He called. Damon turned the corner frantically, it seemed he was actually worried about us. He stopped once he saw us with Lexi and Lee, and approached more cautiously.

"Uh, hi, Lexi. How's it going?" Damon spoke slowly. He pointed to Lee "Is this the flavor of the month?"

I blinked and suddenly Lee had Damon pinned to the side of the building.

"What the hell?!" Damon cried.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked, panic lacing her words.

"You tried to have my girlfriend _killed_." Lee said, pushing Damon harder into the bricks.

"I told you Damon," Lexi said, walking up to the two, "if you ruined my time with Stefan I would hurt you."

"You're not going to kill him, are you Lexi?" I asked, nervous for the first time around my new friend.

She sent a wink my way before swiftly snapping Damon's neck. Elena let out a short scream. Lee released him, and Damon's limp body fell to the ground.

"Is he—?" Elena couldn't finish the question, she looked horrified.

"Dead?" I finished for her. "Only a little more than usual. It takes more than a snapped neck to kill a vampire permanently. He'll wake up soon enough."

"Still hurts though." Lexi added. She admired her handiwork for a moment before suggesting we all head back inside. It was probably for the best that none of us were around when he woke back up, Damon was going to be pissed.

However, I couldn't say Damon didn't deserve a little pain.

We found a table and I went up the bar to get us all drinks.

"Four beers, please, Bree." I said, "And a bourbon for Damon when he gets back in, he's gonna need it."

Bree set everything on a tray for me but as I was taking it from her she held firm, keeping me there for a moment longer.

"Wait." Bree warned me, "Be careful who you tell your truths to, there are those looking for a Phoenix like you."

"I will." I said, but the warning was ominous and off putting. Who could possibly be looking for me? And what could they want?

"So Charlie, what's your secret?" Elena asked as I handed out the drinks.

"My what?" My mind drifted back to Bree and her warning, despite Elena already knowing my 'truth'.

"On the way here you offered to share your secret if I shared mine," Elena reminded, "Well, I did. So pay up."

"Uh… Damon and I kissed." All three of my companions looked at me with wide shocked eyes. I added, "It wasn't a big deal. And it won't be happening again."

"Does your sister know?" It was Lexi who asked.

"No." I ducked my head in shame.

Elena looked disappointed, as if I didn't already feel guilty about Caroline.

"Char—" she started, but I couldn't—didn't— want to hear it.

"There's no point in telling her." I intercepted, "it's never happening again, so telling her would just bring up unnecessary pain. She's almost completely healed from him, I don't want to wreck that."

By the time Damon had rejoined us, and the living, we had moved on to lighter topics. There was some awkwardness between the three Vampires at first, but I had asked Lexi not to hold a grudge. She agreed, saying she knew first hand how destructive a vampire grudge could be. Moving on from that the five of us actually had an enjoyable time until it was time to leave.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

"Fire!" Kat ordered.

Damon pulled the trigger.

I could feel my heart break before the bullet even pierced it. The force of the shot pushed me back and I fell to the ground.

Damon dropped his gun, the compulsion complete. He rushed to my side, but it was too late. Already I could feel a blazing fire erupt from where the bullet hit. Damon attempted to put pressure on the wound, but he had to pull his fingers back lest they get burnt.

The fire was spreading, but my cheeks were wet. Some mixture of Damon's tears and my own.

"I'm sorry, Maggie. I'm so so sorry." He cried as he held me the best he could.

"It's okay," I managed out, "It wasn't you."

The fire had almost completely consumed me by now. Damon had to let go.

"I won't forget you," He promised, "I won't let anyone forget you."

I could feel my body start to crumble to ash.

"We'll see about that." I heard Katherine say. She pulled Damon away from me, she compelled him again.

The last thing I saw as my body completely turned to ash was Damon grab Kat and kiss her.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

The day we returned to Mystic Falls I visited Maggie's gravestone. I tended to the flowers and when I finished I played an Irish tune on my flute. It was a song I had stuck in my memory, I just couldn't quite place where I had learned it. A remnant of Maggie's lifetime I suppose.

"She loved that tune." Damon said. I stopped playing. He picked up a fallen forget-me-not, twirling it between his fingers, "And she loved these flowers."

"And you loved her so much that you placed a gravestone for her, even though there was no body to bury."

"I wanted the town to remember her." He confirmed.

"'Unable are the loved to die, For love is immortality,'" I recited. "That's a good quote."

We stood in silence. Both of us were staring at the gravestone, or at least I had assumed that's what we were looking at until I turned back to Damon to find that he was already staring at me.

"Maybe I was wrong." It was whispered so quietly that I thought maybe he hadn't actually said anything at all. But Damon's eyes were dark and intense and as he took a step closer to me, he continued, "Everyday I see more and more of her in you. Maybe it's possible that—"

"No, you were right." My heart was racing, my palms were sweating, my brain was screaming out, but I couldn't let him finish. I elaborated,"We've talked about this. I'm not Maggie now, and I'll never be again."

"Right. I know." Damon agreed. His expression became guarded again as he turned to leave at a human pace, "Well, I need a drink. Maybe two."

"Wait!" Damon stopped and half turned back to me, there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes that was quickly shielded. I couldn't fathom what he was hoping for, or at least I didn't want to. "I'll help you Damon. I'll help you get into that tomb to kill Katherine."

"Why?" Damon asked, a tinge of distrust in his voice.

I thought, because I can be vengeful too. Because I'm still hoping you'll change your mind.

"I saw how Kat killed Maggie," I said, "how she made you pull the trigger. I don't agree with you releasing 26 vampires into town, but I'll help you kill her."


	12. Episode 12

**Episode 12: Fifties Decade Dance**

"_I no longer feared the darkness once I knew the phoenix in me would rise from the ashes." _

— William C. Hannan

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1863**

The rain came down suddenly, catching Damon and I unprepared. We ducked into a nearby barn to get away from the downpour.

"Looks like we're stuck here until the storm passes." Damon said, his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"We'll it's not so bad," I started looking up fondly at him, "I can think of worse fates than being stuck with you."

"What should we do to pass the time?" He asked, his eyes growing dark. Ignoring the lustful lustful look I took his hands in mine.

"Dance with me," I proposed.

"I'm not much of a dancer," Damon replied even as he moved one of his hands to my waist.

"But you get to go to all those town town balls. Show me how the ladies dance with you." My plea was rewarded by a small smile.

"None of those ladies dance with me."

I scoffed in disbelief. If none of the young women of Mystic Falls danced with him then they're either blind, or, and this thought made my insides flip pleasantly, Damon turned them all down.

"There's not even any music." Damon pointed out.

"We'll make our own." I started humming a tune as Damon and I moved our feet. We danced in a small circle until my humming stopped, as if it was the end of a song.

"You're incredible." Damon kissed me suddenly and I melted into him.

"What's going on here?" A voice called from the stable entrance, the light of a torch was cast on us, and I could barely make out the figure of Noah, one of the town deputies.

"Just trying to stay out of the wet weather," Damon answered. He had separated himself from me as soon as he could. Despite knowing our predicament would be considered inappropriate if caught so close together, I still felt empty without him at my side.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

Caroline and I were getting ready for the 50's decade dance at school. My sister was being uncharacteristically unenthusiastic about the dance. She hadn't said a word while doing my hair in some rockabilly style we found online. And now, as I finish curling the back of her hair, she was frowning.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, pulling her hair into the up-do she had wanted.

She sighed, looking at me through her vanity mirror. "I just thought I'd be going with Matt, that's all."

"Well, did he ask you?" I countered, "Did you ask him?"

"No, but we were hanging out and I thought it was going good. But then he gets this job at the Grill without even telling me…"

"He didn't have to tell you, you guys aren't dating," I pointed out. Caroline's eyes snapped to mine in the mirror and I added, "Yet. You aren't dating yet, but I think its on the horizon."

"I wish." Caroline said, slumping in her seat, "Matt's not over Elena, and we all know it."

"Elena isn't going to get back with Matt, like ever. He knows that," I said.

"So what? I just wait for him to move on?"

"Or maybe help him move on?" I suggested, while finishing with her hair.

"So I _am_ the rebound?" Caroline said, moving on to her make-up.

My phone _dinged_, alerting me to a new message.

"That's not what I'm saying," I said as I opened my messenger. "You shouldn't wait around for him, but maybe he needs a little help to realize he can be happy with someone else."

_Vamp attack. Elena's. Now. _Damon had texted.

"I have to go," I said suddenly.

Caroline looked up in surprise. "Where? Bonnie's gonna be here in thirty minutes to pick us up."

"Elena needs help getting ready," I lied. "I'll put my dress on there and we'll meet you at the dance?"

"Sure," she reluctantly agreed.

I arrived at Elena's house less than 10 minutes later. Damon was outside and wasted no time bringing me inside at top speed.

"So what happened? Damon's text wasn't exactly informative." I asked looking at Elena. She looked shaken.

"A vampire attacked Elena. Inside her house," Damon answered for her.

"He's been invited in," I deduced. "Did you get a good look?" Elena nodded her head. "Then we'll find him and stop him. And maybe while we're at it, figure out what he wanted." I looked from Stefan to Damon who both agreed.

"You up for that?" Damon asked Elena.

"What do I have to do?" She asked.

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance." Damon said, "We'll see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea," Stefan warned.

"Until we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it," Damon reasoned. "It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it," Elena agreed. She hardly hesitated, not when her family was on the line.

That didn't ease Stefan's worries, however. He still thought it was too dangerous, so Elena grabbed Stefan's hand and looked him in the eyes, showing her conviction.

"With you and me on the lookout, Elena's gonna be safe," I assured him.

"And if Charlie brings Damon as her date, I'll be even safer." Elena suggested.

I nearly choked, "What?"

"Come on, Charlie," Elena said, "We can all work together to get this guy, but we're gonna need Damon's help."

"Can't he just, I don't know… stalk outside the dance?" By the looks they were giving me, the answer was no. Caroline was not going to like this.

I put my dress on in Elena's room, and almost ran into Damon on the way out. Who hadn't changed at all. He was wearing the same black t-shirt, black jeans and leather jacket he wore all day, with his stylishly messy hair.

"You know if you're going to be my date you could at least try to dress to the theme."

Damon smirked down at me. "I'll have you know this is exactly how I looked in the fifties."

I rolled my eyes. "Your face doesn't count. You could at least cuff your pant legs."

We arrived at the dance fashionably late. Caroline and Bonnie were already there and dancing together to _This Magic Moment_. Caroline was the first to notice us as we all walked in, Elena with Stefan and me with Damon. Elena and I stood near the punch bowl while the boys cased the dance.

"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie asked, looking off into the distance where Damon stood with Stefan.

"He's my date." I said, my voice wavering a bit, all the preparation in the world couldn't steel me for that sentence. Bonnie and Caroline briefly shared a look of shock.

"No, he's not." Caroline said, her tone sharp.

"You know everything Damon's done." Bonnie said, making me feel guilty. He's hurt both my sister and my best friend. I didn't have any words to defend him at the moment so I looked to Elena. This was her idea anyway.

"She only brought him as a favor to me." Elena admitted, "He wanted to come and if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. It's not like I can kill him."

Bonnie was still staring at Damon, "There's a thought."

Caroline hummed in agreement. "I'll help." The two clinked glasses.

"Don't worry. I'll keep him in line." I promised.

Damon approached just then, standing in front of Bonnie. "Hi, Bonnie. Give me another chance with a dance?" He offered.

Bonnie and Caroline looked at Damon as if he was a giant cockroach.

"I'm out of here." Bonnie said, walking away. Damon tried to block her, but I intercepted. Bonnie moved around us, Damon's eyes following her.

"I'll dance with you." I said, "You're supposed to be my date anyway."

Caroline scoffed from my side, "Seriously?"

"What? I'll keep him entertained and away from you and Bonnie."

"Just, back off, Damon." Caroline glared at him and then followed Bonnie across the dance floor.

I turned to Damon, "So, about that dance?"

He shrugged, looking away from me. "I'm actually not that much of a dancer."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, we both know that's not true."

I grabbed his arm and led us out to the dance floor. Once there Damon became more agreeable to dancing. He twirled me out and then pulled me back into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck while Damon placed his hands on my hips. Dancing with Damon brought back some of Maggie's happier memories of the two. I tried not to let my smile show how much I was enjoying the moment.

Meanwhile, Damon was focusing on more important things instead of the past, like stealthily looking around for anyone suspicious.

"Can't you guys sense each other?" I asked.

Damon laughed. "Doesn't work that way. Just keep a lookout for anyone making a move toward Elena."

I nodded. I didn't see anybody I didn't recognize, but my eyes kept darting toward Caroline. Whenever we made eye contact she'd quickly look away.

"She hates me." I said into Damon's shoulder.

"Who?"

"Caroline," I said as if it was obvious.

"No, she doesn't. Trust me, I'm the expert on sibling hatred."

"Yes, she does. I'm dancing with her abusive ex."

Damon had the decency to almost look guilty.

"You know...what happened with Caroline, it wasn't personal." If he was trying to make me feel better, it wasn't working.

"God. I'm the worst sister ever." I lamented, resting my face into Damon's chest.

We took a break after a couple songs with no sign of the mystery vamp.

"Caroline, please don't hate me." I pleaded, catching Caroline just as she and Bonnie were about to leave the dance. Caroline stopped and turned to me, her arms crossed. Bonnie took one look at the tension between us and walked out to the hallway.

"You know what he did to me. And how he's been harassing Bonnie," Caroline accused.

I flinched. I knew more about both of those things than she did, but I swallowed the guilt down.

"I know. He is not forgiven for that, but doesn't he deserve a chance for redemption?"

"No." She replied quickly and firmly. "How can you even be here with him?"

"It's not like we're a thing!" There was another kind of guilt bubbling up in my stomach. The kind that was associated with lying. I just couldn't tell _who_ I was lying to. "I only agreed to come with him for Elena's sake."

Caroline scoffed. "Oh, please! Don't try to pin this on Elena."

"It was literally her idea! I didn't even know I was going to the dance with him until an hour ago." Caroline still looked miffed with me, and she was going to continue to be, because I didn't want to hate Damon. I knew there were redeeming qualities in him somewhere. I couldn't give up on him yet. "Look, you can continue to hate him as much as you want because that's what he deserves. But I'm giving him a chance to prove to me that he can be better. Because I think he deserves that too."

"Why?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"Because everyone does."

"Really? The moral high ground approach? For the guy that used me and abused me and made me feel worthless."

"You don't know everything, Care." I said before I could think about what I was saying, "You haven't seen the parts of Damon I have."

"Oh, I've seen plenty of his parts." I knew my sister was referring to the more carnal aspects of her relationship with Damon, the reminder made me feel sick. And when mixed with my own secrets concerning the vampire? It created word vomit.

"We kissed." I admitted. She was already angry with me, might as well give her another reason.

Caroline, who had started walking away suddenly turned back around.

"What." It was said so quietly I could barely hear her over the music of the dance, but there was no mistaking the fury in my sister's eyes. And here I thought I was the only Forbes who could control fire. "When? How? _Why?_"

There was no easy answer to any of those questions.

"I can't get into that right now," I said, knowing it was unsatisfying and possibly the worst thing to say until I said, "It just happened."

"Yeah, well, I hope the things that happened to me don't _just happen_ to you, because I don't know if I'll be around to hear about it." She turned her back on me, I grabbed her wrist before she walked away.

"Caroline please, it's not like that. Can we talk about it at home?"

"Fine." She said before slipping out of my grip and walking away.

Everything was so not fine.

When I went back to Damon I saw him speaking with the new history teacher, Alaric 'Ric' Saltzman.

"Hey, Mr Saltzman. I see you've met my date." I said, placing my hand on Damon's arm. His muscles were tense, a predator ready to pounce at any moment. And Alaric Saltzman was his prey.

"Your date?" Mr Saltzman's eyebrows raised in surprise. He looked between us both, taking note of the age difference, "How did you two meet?"

"Through my brother Stefan." Damon answered, it wasn't exactly a lie.

"Heh. I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I...I don't mean to pry. Look, it was nice meeting you."

"You, too." Damon replied, his signature smirk in place.

"Enjoy the rest of the dance." Mr Saltzman patted Damon on the arm and walked away.

"Is it just me or was that weird?" I asked, still watching my teacher as he moved through the crowd.

"It was weird." Damon said, his narrowed eyes watching Mr Saltzman too.

"What was he talking to you about?"

"He just had a lot of questions." Damon answered, his eyes still trained on the teacher, "Perhaps too many questions."

"Damon, do not kill my history teacher again."

Maybe I _was_ being too forgiving to Damon.

"So why haven't you had a boyfriend yet?" Damon asked when we were back on the dance floor. "You don't seem like the type of girl that waits around for the guy to ask."

My eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, "How do you know I haven't had a boyfriend?"

"You're not the only one who remembers things. That night after the Falls party at the coffee place, you and Caroline mentioned it."

"You were there? That's kinda creepy." I hadn't noticed Damon at the cafe, was he stalking me when he first came to town? I suppose it didn't matter now. "I don't know. I never met a guy I was interested in enough to date. I've kissed a few guys, but just at parties."

"Did you play spin the bottle?" Damon asked with mirth.

I laughed. "I may have partaken on occasion"

"Who'd you kiss?"

I winced at the memory, "Ugh, Tyler Lockwood. Which is never happening again."

"Not a good kisser?" Damon guessed.

I nodded. "Too much tongue."

In the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. My gaze snapped to the left, seeing him right before he slipped through the exit.

"Damon, the vampire. I saw him."

Damon glanced around. "Where? How do you know?"

"I recognized him from 1864. He just left. Where's Elena?"

Damon looked around again. "Not here. Let's go."

We walked down the empty school hallway, looking for any sign of Elena or the vampire. We heard a crash from the cafeteria and ran towards it, reaching the cafeteria seconds after Stefan.

The room was a mess, tables were flung out of the way and there were splatters of blood on the floor. There was a broken mop tossed to the side. It looked like Elena had fought back.

Stefan had grabbed Noah and pushed him away from Elena, but Noah stood back up.

Damon picked up the broken mop handle.

"Hey, dickhead." Damon called, Noah turned to look at us. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk."

Noah smiled and rushed towards Elena. Damon threw the makeshift stake at Stefan, who grabbed it and staked the other vampire in the stomach, causing Noah to fall to his knees.

Stefan and Damon towered over Noah as they tried to interrogate him. Noah wasn't really cooperating though, and everytime he gave a shit answer Stefan would dig the stake in a little deeper.

"This isn't going anywhere." I said crouching down next to Noah. I placed my hand on his arm, he cried out in surprise. When I lifted my palm it left a burn mark in the shape of my hand. "That was just a teaser, so unless you really want to be burned I'd start answering our do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine." This bit of information shocked everyone, well, except me.

"Of course he knew Kat," I said. "As a deputy sheriff he was the perfect target for her to have wrapped around her fingers."

Damon leaned down next to the pinned vampire. "Tell me how to get in the tomb," he demanded. I rolled my eyes, it always came back to that.

When Noah said "No", I burned him again.

Noah screamed in agony, yelling out, "Grimoire! The grimoire!"

"Where is it?" Damon asked.

I put my hand, still a burning red, up where the other vampire could see it. A warning. I didn't need to touch him before Noah spoke.

"Check the journal." He said quickly, "Johnathan's journal. Johnathan Gilbert's."

Damon stood up, grimacing.

I wasn't too pleased either, that was just another step we needed to take.

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked. Noah shook his head like he wasn't going to answer. I placed my hand on his arm, burning the spot. This was the information we really needed.

"Who else is there?" Damon repeated over the screams. I let up on the burning to let the vampire speak.

"No." Noah shook his head, "No. You're gonna have to kill me."

"Good enough for me." I lifted my hand, flames igniting from the fingertips until my whole hand was encased in fire. I was intending to light Noah on fire like I had with Logan...and Vicki. Before I could, Stefan staked him in the heart. The fire in my hand died down with Noah's death, I was relieved that I didn't have to be the one to kill him.

It was probably better that way anyway, less screaming involved.

"What do we…" Elena said, clearly in shock. She pulled herself together enough to ask, "How are you gonna find the others now?"

"He had to die, he was invited in." I told her. Elena nods, trying to find comfort in my reasoning. Stefan wrapped an arm around her.

The sound of a door opening could be heard from the hallway. Damon stepped outside to check on who it was.

I started to stand the furniture in the cafeteria back up, not sure what else to do with myself. Once Elena seemed ok, Stefan went about taking care of the desiccated vampire body. And then Damon returned to help straighten the cafeteria. By the time we were done you almost couldn't tell there was a vampire fight in there.

The dance had dwindled down and Elena went home with her brother and Aunt Jenna. Damon and Stefan were leaning against either side of the cafeteria doorway. I stood in the middle, my feet keeping me slightly more on Damon's side.

"There's no way that idiot was working alone." Damon said.

"You were." Stefan said, glancing at me as he said so. "So the Grimoire… That was Emily's, right? That's what you need to reverse the spell."

"And we need to find it fast." I said, looking pointedly at Stefan, "Before Noah's buddies do."

Damon clapped, rubbing his hands together. "Let the games begin."

"My offer still stands." Stefan said.

I looked between the brothers, "What offer?"

"To help. If I'm there when the tomb opens, Damon gets Katherine and goes, and then the other 26 vampires die."

It wasn't so different from my offer, I wondered why Damon hadn't accepted it.

"Why should I trust you?" Damon asked. Right, they had major trust issues. I guess Damon was worried Stefan was going to betray him, maybe lock him in the tomb like he tried to lock Damon in the Salvatore basement.

"Because I'm your brother," Stefan answered.

"No, that's not gonna cut it."

"Because I want you gone," Stefan said instead.

Damon thought on it for a moment, then finding Stefan's reason acceptable, nodded. "Ok."

Stefan nodded in agreement and then vamp sped out of the school. Probably to check on Elena.

"So," I said, filling the silence left behind from Stefan's departure, "you haven't told your brother why you really want to get inside the tomb."

Damon turned away from me. "To save her, to kill her. It doesn't really matter, does it? As long as I get my hands on Katherine."

"And you're ok with killing the rest of the vampires too?" I asked, watching him carefully. We'd already discussed it when I offered my help, but I felt it needed to be asked again.

"If that's the price of revenge," He said, offering me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. There was no sparkle this time, just steel.


	13. Episode 13

**Episode 13: Family Night**

"_I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."_

-Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

Stalking Damon through town had become a habit. It wasn't my proudest moment, but ever since Kat had sunk her teeth into Damon I had to keep an eye on him. They were headed to the apothecary, a place Kat often went to visit her friend Pearl, a vampire who appeared in town around the same time as my former sister.

Pearl also had a daughter, Annabelle. She was a quiet young girl, although that was only how she appeared, being a vampire. She was always watching, often waiting outside her mother's apothecary. As she was at that moment, Emily waiting outside along with her. I would wait with them for as long as I could get away with it. While Kat likely knew I was tailing her and Damon, it would be awkward to enter the apothecary.

"Good morning, Emily. Good morning, Annabelle," I greeted. Emily nodded in return. Anna was petting a horse that was hitched near the apothecary.

"Good morning, Maggie." Anna replied politely. When we first met she and Pearl regarded me with the same polite distance as they did with all the townsfolk. It seemed Katherine had told them about me, as now they watched me more closely.

"Do you like horses?" I asked. It was small talk, we both knew that.

Anna smiled at me, her eyes shifted toward the apothecary door for a short moment before returning to me. I wondered if Pearl had told Kat about the vervain elixir Mrs Fell brought to the apothecary yet. The humans of the town were getting wise to their vampire problem, I had smelled the familiar flower on Noah the other day as he passed. Which meant it had probably spread to all the deputies.

"I do. They're beautiful creatures. But you don't want to talk about horses."

"No, I suppose I don't. What did I want to talk about? Since you seem to know so much about it."

"She's not gonna drain him dry in the middle of town," Anna said.

"Who?" I asked, playing coy. Anna's eyes drifted back to the apothecary door.

"Damon. He's okay, you know."

"For now." I replied, my eyes trained on the closed apothecary door as well. "While it suits her."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

"Good morning, Caroline." I said as my sister entered the kitchen. I already had her coffee made and placed on the island counter for her.

"Morning." She said shortly. She picked up the coffee, but paused before she took a sip, "Just so you know, I don't forgive you yet. I'm taking this coffee because otherwise it'd go to waste, _not_ because I'm taking your obvious coffee bribe."

"Caroline—" But after the dance and my confession she wasn't willing to talk to me. Silently Caroline went back upstairs, locking the door to her room. The door was locked last night too. We never locked our doors from each other.

We never lied or omitted anything to each other either, so I guess we were just trying new things now.

Even the drive to school was silent except for the Taylor Swift CD playing.

At school I followed after Caroline trying to start a conversation, but she was steadfast on giving me the silent treatment. The tension between us was thick and only interrupted by Bonnie coming up to us at our lockers. Our mutual best friend wasn't happy with me either, but Bonnie was always the more civil one.

"So, how did everyone's night go?" Bonnie asked. My gaze fell to the floor, while Caroline looked away. Bonnie carried on, "Okay, I can start. My night ended pretty great."

"Do you know where you're going on your date?" Caroline asked.

I peeked up. "You have a date?" Bonnie's love life was a neutral topic. "With who?"

"Ben. We're going to meet at the Grill." Bonnie answered, her attention shifting between us.

"Wait, Ben. Ben… isn't he that jock guy that graduated a couple years ago?" I said, "He's taking you out to the place where he works? Isn't that kinda tacky?"

"Thank you!" Caroline exclaimed, then as if she was upset with herself for agreeing with me, she crossed her arms and turned away from the conversation.

"It's not like there are a ton of date spots anyway," Bonnie said defensively. "Besides the Grill is neutral ground, it's where we met."

"Okay…" I said unsure, "but tell him he has to think more creatively for the second date."

"Charlie, if I could have a word?" Mr Saltzman said as I passed his desk after history. Elena gave me a questioning look, but I shooed her off.

"It's okay, I'll meet you in English." I stood awkwardly in front of the teachers desk. "Hey, Mr Saltzman, what's up?"

"You can call me Ric," He corrected. "I just wanted to ask you—"

"That's an old journal." I interrupted, taking notice of the old leather bound book on the desk.

"Yes." Mr Saltzman replied, moving the journal to a drawer in his desk, "A little gem I borrowed from the historical society."

"Who did it belong to?"

"One of the town's founders. It's a really enlightening perspective on the town's history."

"Any mention of vampires?" Mr Saltzman seemed to pale. At his questioning glance I added, "I'm a big fan of paranormal history, I've heard a lot of this town's folklore."

"There is some, yes. But it's easy to see monsters lurking around every corner when you're in the middle of a war." He explained.

"So you're not a believer then?" I asked, watching my teacher carefully. Maybe Damon had a reason to suspect him.

"I'm more of a see-to-believe kind of person. But I didn't stop to talk about myths, I actually wanted to ask you about Damon."

Yes, there was something suspicious about Mr Saltzman. I grew tense, "What about him?"

"Isn't he a little old for you?" he said.

A short laugh came out by accident. It was such a normal valid concern, and I couldn't tell if Mr Saltzman knew how old Damon _really_ was. He definitely didn't know how old I was.

"Damon is not my boyfriend, and no offense Mr Saltzman, even if he was it'd be none of your business. You're not my dad. I already have one of those, even if he is in another state." I left before Mr Saltzman could talk about it any more.

I sat with Bonnie at lunch, while my sister was across the cafeteria with Matt. They were laughing about something and she looked happy. Meanwhile, I was wallowing in my self-pity.

"Am I really that horrible Bon-Bon?" I asked, swirling around cafeteria mashed potatoes with a spork.

"I don't want to take sides, but you did go on a date with her ex. That kinda breaks girl-code."

"It wasn't even a real date! We only went together to protect Elena. There was another vampire after her."

"Oh." Bonnie's eyes grew wide at that information. "What happened?"

"He tried to hurt Elena at the dance, as we thought he would and Stefan staked him. But it's not like I can tell that to Caroline."

"She told me you and Damon kissed?" Bonnie said, but it sounded more like a question.

"On a seperate, non-related occasion! And it didn't even mean anything. She just hasn't given me the chance to explain." I looked wistfully over to Caroline and Matt, resting my chin on my hand. "Not that I would know where to start."

"Do you want to explain it to me?" Bonnie asked, her tone becoming more serious, "Because I don't get it either. Damon fed on Caroline and manipulated her."

I shrugged. "He's a vampire, that's what they do."

"She's your sister," Bonnie said sharply, like a knife to the throat.

"And I love her," I amended, "but it's not like he killed her."

"Why are you making excuses for him? He's a monster."

"I'm not exactly human either."

"_You're_ not a bloodthirsty killer." Bonnie pointed out.

"We don't know that. I'm recovering more and more of my past lives everyday. Who knows what I've done."

"You're not a killer. At least not in this life. It doesn't matter what you might or might not have done in the past."

"It does matter though. I knew Damon when he was human. We were in love, and I can't seem to forget about it."

Bonnie looked disarmed. "What?"

"In the 1860's a very human Damon loved a woman named Maggie. He didn't believe I was really her until Emily possessed you and she recognized me."

"You kissed Damon after he attacked me." She sounded accusatory.

"He was upset. And _he_ kissed _me_."

"You kissed him back."

"We were both overcome with hundred year old emotions. I'm not Maggie, he knows that, I know that. But there's a part of me, the part that remembers being her, that can't give up on him, that knows Damon still has his humanity. He can still be good."

Bonnie was silent for a moment, stunned as she took in everything I said. "There's no way you can explain that to Caroline."

"So you see my dilemma?"

"You have to say something though."

We looked back at the table where Caroline sat with Matt Donovan. Taking in a breath of courage I walked over to their table. Caroline's expression dropped as she noticed me. Matt became a tad less jovial, but retained his friendly face.

"Hey, Matty-blue-eyes, could I get a moment alone with my sister."

"Uh yeah," Matt got up and as he left he patted me on the shoulder, "Good luck."

"Hey." I said sitting across from Caroline.

"I don't have anything to say to you." Her arms crossed and Caroline turned in her seat as much as she could so that I mostly faced her back.

"Then don't, just listen," I pleaded. "I'm not dating Damon. But there is _something_ between us. I've felt it since I first met him. It's powerful." Caroline looked about to say something. "Please, let me talk. It's gonna sound crazy, but I knew Damon in another life. Our souls knew each other, and they loved each other. I don't know if our current relationship will develop any further than friendship, but I feel like I need to help him."

Caroline sighed. "Look if you're trying to get back at me for dating him first, you did. Just, please, stay away from him."

"I can't," I said resolutely.

"He's not a good guy, Charlie."

"He was once," I said, "he could be again."

"What was that saying dad always used to say?" Caroline said thoughtfully, "A leopard doesn't change its spots?"

"Exactly, he—"

Caroline interrupted me in a yell. "No! We're supposed to learn from each other's mistakes," Caroline's voice had gradually calmed down from her initial outburst, so that she spoke much softer, "and Damon… Damon was a mistake."

"You know what happened, it wasn't your fault," I reminded her, my hand had reached out to sooth her.

Caroline had caught my eyes in an intense stare. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"And I won't. But just in case, can I count on you to be there for me?"

She nodded. "Of course."

Band practice had ended late. I walked back into the empty school hallways to put my flute away in my locker. Around the corner I heard a crashing sound and went to investigate. The only light that was on was in the history classroom.

I walked into the doorway to find Alaric sitting at one of the student desks and Stefan standing, holding some sort of gun that was modified to shoot wooden stakes. And Mr Saltzman said he wasn't a believer.

"Stefan? Mr Saltzman?" I asked, looking between the two. Mr Saltzman turned to me quickly, his eyes wide and full of warning. I must have looked like the picture perfect damsel in distress

"Charlie, run!" Alaric said.

I scoffed, crossing my arms. "Stefan's my friend. Well, sort of. He's not going to hurt me. Besides, even if he tried, vampires don't scare me." I summoned a ball of fire into my palm. It was getting easier the more often I did it.

Alaric flinched and Stefan gave me a look of disapproval. I rolled my eyes.

"What? He already knows what _you_ are."

"And what are you?" He asked, looking at me warily.

"We're not going to hurt you, Mr Saltzman. I'm a—" I paused, remembering what Bree told me about being careful with who I tell, "witch."

In a show of good faith Stefan returned Alaric's special gun. "Now...who are you?" Stefan asks Alaric. The interrogation had begun.

"Oh, that's an easy one Stef," I answer instead, "He's a history teacher by day and Van Helsing by night. The real question, is why? Why kill vampires? Why here? Mystic Falls isn't the only place they hang out."

"And tell the truth." Stefan added.

Alaric answers, telling us about his wife, the parapsychologist, whose work lead him to Mystic Falls. And how she was killed by a vampire.

There was a sinking feeling in my gut. "Do you know who?"

Alaric pointed to Stefan, "his brother."

"Are you certain it was Damon?" I asked, my mouth suddenly feeling very dry. Damon killed plenty of people, which didn't bother me nearly as much as it should, and honestly it didn't bother me as much as it should that he probably killed Alaric's wife too. I was just worried someone might actually stake him over it.

"I witnessed it."

"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you." Stefan warned. I wondered if Stef would try to protect his brother, or if he was just warning him against Damon.

"I just want to find out what happened to my wife." Alaric's said.

My forehead wrinkled in confusion, "You just said Damon—"

"Yeah. I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just...disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"Damon can never know why you're here?" Stefan warned. "He'll kill you without blinking."

"I can take care of myself." Alaric said.

As if on cue, Stefan and I scoffed at the same time.

"No, you can't. I can help you. If you let me." Stefan offered. He was being generous with that offer recently.

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" I asked, because that had to be the reason Stefan was really here.

"What do you want with it?" Alaric asked.

"Where is it?" Stefan repeated.

"It's on my desk." Alaric answered.

I looked over to his desk, finding no leather bound book, only a stack of papers. "No, it's not."

"It was on my desk."

That didn't bode well. There were some papers of a copied book on the desk. I picked up one of the pages and skimmed it.

"He doesn't have the journal," I said showing Stefan the stack of papers, "but a copy's just as good."

I rode with Stefan as he drove to Elena's house; he'd insisted, it was 'Family Night' at the Gilbert house. I spent most of ride flipping through the copied pages of the journal.

"Charlie," Stefan said, "you can't tell Damon about the copy of the journal."

"Why not?" I asked, looking up from the papers, "Damon is under the impression you're trying to help him. Guess that's not true."

"Those vampires in the tomb are dangerous, they'll target everyone in town if they're let out."

"Then we'll just kill them all and not have to think about it ever again." I reasoned, "I know Damon hasn't gone into the details, but really he wants to kill Kat, he agreed not to release the others. He needs the closure, Stefan."

Stefan appeared shocked at the news, but masked it quickly. "Damon also wanted revenge on the town, Charlie. I don't believe he'd just let it go. If that tomb is opened, it puts the whole town at risk."

"I suppose." I said non-committed. I returned to looking through the papers until we arrived at Elena's.

Stefan knocked on the Gilbert's door, surprised when Elena answered with Damon right behind her shoulder. I kinda expected Damon to hover. Damon wasn't very trusting, and from the car ride with Stefan, he had good reason.

"Well?" Damon said expectantly.

"Ric didn't have the journal." Stefan said. Elena and Damon joined us out on the porch, closing the front door behind them.

"Who took it?" Damon asked.

"We don't know."

"It's that teacher. There's something really off about him."

"No, he doesn't know anything." Stefan lied. "Somebody got to it right before me."

"Who else knew it was there?"

Stefan glanced at Jeremy through the window. Damon noticed and walked back into the house to question Elena's brother. Apparently Jeremy told some girl, Anna, about the journal as well, and he was supposed to meet her at the Grill. Damon offered to drive and I tagged along, despite the annoyed look Stefan shot my way. It's not my fault I was honest in my intentions to help Damon.

The Grill was fairly packed when we reached it, making good cover as we watched Jeremy from our place at the bar. Jeremy went towards the pool tables to meet his friend, who I was almost surprised to find that I knew.

"That's Annabelle." I whispered.

Damon growled lowly. "Fantastic, another blast from the past."

"Come on, let's get out of here before she spots us—er, you." I pulled Damon towards the doorway, careful to keep a crowd between us and Anna. She wouldn't know me, but she'd recognize Damon for sure. "At least we know who we're dealing with." I said once we were outside, "This just means we need to figure out how to get into the tomb before she does."

Damon watched her playing pool with Jeremy through the Grill's windows. "Great, I'll nab her and you do that burning torture thing. I'm sure she'll tell us where it is."

My hand shot out to block Damon from walking back into the Grill.

"That's unnecessary." I nodded toward his car. "Damon, I need to tell you something," I said once were seated in his camaro, "before the journal was stolen, Mr Saltzman made a copy. Stefan has it, but I managed to take a peek. Jonathan Gilbert gave the Grimoire to your father."

"Well, that's just great now we'll nev—" Damon paused, "actually, I know exactly where it is."

Damon and I traveled to the Old Cemetery, picking up shovels along the way. Damon lead the way to Giuseppe Salvatore's gravestone and we set up some light.

"You're positive he had it buried with him." I asked, holding onto my shovel.

"I'm sure it's not the only thing he took to the grave, but yes. The Grimoire has to be there."

"Fantastic." I said, pushing my shovel into the dirt and starting to dig. Damon followed suit, as we dug on opposite sides.

"You know I can do this part on my own." Damon said from beside me.

"I know, but I said I was going to help you and I meant it."

Damon stopped digging briefly to stare at me. "I'm starting to believe you're the only one that does."

Once the hole got deeper Damon took over on his own while I sat on the edge of the hole and shined the light down on the grave. Damon continued to dig until his shovel hit something solid, bouncing back with a loud thud. He used the shovel to get as much dirt off as he could, exposing the old coffin, then tossed the shovel away.

Damon looked up at me in apprehension before opening the coffin. "The moment of truth," he said. He lifted the lid, revealing his father's remains and an old leather bound book cradled in Guisseppe's arms. I can see the emotions pass through Damon's face as he stares down at his father: sadness, regret, anger. Finally, Damon rips the Grimoire from his boney grasp and closes the coffin.

In the next moment Damon was out of the grave and standing next to me. We hear people approaching and turned to see a beam of light heading our way. I couldn't see behind the flashlight, but I know the two figures with it are Elena and Stefan.

"Well, what do you know?" Damon's lip curled up in a snarl, "A bit late to stab me in the back."

The pair grew close enough I could see their faces. Elena had the decency to look ashamed. Stefan was looking at me.

"I thought we had an understanding," he said.

"When I make a promise, I actually intend to see it through," I stated.

Damon took step forward, shielding me slightly behind his body.

"Don't bring her into this," Damon said. "From where I'm standing, Charlotte is the only person I can actually trust."

"I can't let you open that tomb. I'm sorry," said Stefan.

"So am I," Damon replied, "for thinking for even a second that I could trust you."

Damon took ahold of me, one arm wrapped around my middle cradling the grimoire between us, his other hand supported my neck as he ran us away at vampire speed.


	14. Episode 14

**Episode 14: Duke's Party**

"_Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."_

— Rabindranath Tagore

* * *

I was flying, watching the earth as it changed beneath me. The world took shape as I flew high above, never touching it. Those early days all blended together: floods and beautiful springs, bountiful harvests and harsh winters. From the sky, I watched as brother killed brother. There was violence ever since the beginning, but there was love too. I watched as mother protected child, as lovers comforted each other when times were bad, as families celebrated happiness.

I had always been alone when I was flying. Then one day I landed and I knew flying would never be the same. But I also knew I would never be lonely again.

And then I burned to ashes.

**Mystic Falls, 1864**

I sat outside the Salvatore house watching a bird flying in the distance.

"So, you like birds?" Anna said as she joined me in the grass. Her mother was visiting with Katherine that day.

"Do you ever miss your old life?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, when you were human?" I whispered. No one else was around us, but it never hurt to be too careful. "Is there anything from your human life you miss? Something you couldn't bring with you?"

Anna played with the grass beneath her fingers. "I have my mother, that's all I really need."

"What happens if you don't have her anymore?" I pressed. "What would you miss then?"

Anna's hand clenched, ripping a chunk of the grass from the dirt. "That won't happen."

"It could."

"I wouldn't let it," Anna said resolutely. "What do you miss? According to Miss Katherine you've had quite a few old lives."

I smiled. So Kat did talk about me.

"I miss the freedom of flying."

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2009**

That morning I dragged Caroline into my room and made her sit next to me on the edge of my bed.

"Caroline, there's something really important I need to tell you," I said. "I recently found out that I am in fact, not a witch. I'm a Phoenix."

Caroline burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Caroline spluttered, trying to suppress her giggles, "you're being serious, and I'm being inappropriate." She let out a few giggles. "You're a phoenix? Like Fawkes? From Harry Potter? The firebird?"

I nodded seriously. "I know it sounds silly and I'm obviously not a bird. But I think I used to be. And then I became human, well, human-like. And it explains my supernatural abilities, like the fire and reincarnation, and the flying—"

Caroline interrupted my rambling with a wave of her hand. "Hold up, you can fly?"

"I did once, maybe twice," I said fumbling over my words, "I'm still figuring that part out."

"Where was I?"

I wondered how much Caroline remembered of that night.

"Getting kidnapped by Logan Fell, who was a vampire." I watched Caroline closely. Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember.

"Logan Fell kidnapped me?" She asked.

"Attempted," I clarified, confused about her lack of response to him being a vampire. "Did you miss the part where I said he was also a vampire?"

"How come I don't remember getting kidnapped by the news reporter?" She didn't seem fazed by the vampire bit, perhaps Damon's compulsion was stronger than I realized.

"Vampire," I tried.

"Ok, weird non sequitur," Caroline said. "What about them?"

"Logan Fell was a vampire."

"What about Logan?" she asked, as if she didn't hear the full statement.

"He hit you pretty hard on the head," I said, finally giving up. I wasn't going to get anywhere this way. When Damon compelled her to forget about vampires, it didn't just affect her memories of him, he made it so she couldn't remember any new information about vampires at all.

"And you're a Phoenix. Who can fly," said Caroline excitedly, blissfully ignorant of my inner turmoil.

"Sometimes." I stuck out my pinky finger. "You have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone."

"Obviously," she replied, intertwining our pinkies.

"Okay, well I have news too," Caroline said suddenly, "Matt kissed me!"

I was grateful for the change in topic to something so normal. "That's great! So like are you two official?"

Caroline's excitement dampened, "I don't know...things were okay between us at school yesterday, but I felt like there was this barrier. It was all awkward. What if he's having second thoughts or regrets, or was like, ooged out—"

"Ooged out?" I laughed.

Caroline hushed me. "I am trying to figure out a serious problem here!"

I tried to reign in my amusement, but I still smiled good naturedly. "So why not just ask him how he felt about it? Instead of wondering and giving yourself anxiety."

"I know he doesn't think it's going to work out between us, he's told me as much himself." She pouted.

"Then offer him an out," I suggested.

"An out? Like an escape clause?"

"If that kiss sealed a contractual agreement, sure." I tried not to laugh again at my sister's torn expression. "Look Care, the kiss obviously meant something. So just lay it all out there, let Matt know. He might be having the same insecurities you are."

"But what if I mess it up and say the wrong thing?"

I stood up and grabbed a pen and paper from my desk, handing it to my sister. "Then write it down first. It's like you're preparing a speech."

"That's a good idea. I'm glad we made up, I don't know what I'd do without my other half, even if she is half bird." Caroline embraced me in a hug.

"I'm glad too, I missed you." We released each other and got up to get ready to head out for the day. "Hey, if things work out with Matt you can invite him to Duke's party tonight."

"Could you text Elena and Bonnie about Duke's party?" Caroline said later as she drove us to the Grill. "No one's replying to me."

"Sure." I sent a short group message. By the time we reached the Grill there was still no answer from either of them.

"Hey, Jeremy. Where is Elena?" Caroline asked as we ran into him inside the Grill. "We've been texting her and Bonnie all day about Duke's party."

"Uh, she went somewhere with Stefan."

Caroline sighed. "I am so not going to be one of those girls who disappears just because she has a new boyfriend." Caroline invited Jeremy to the party and then left me as she spotted Matt to give him her speech.

I sat down at the bar on my own, but my eyes followed Jeremy as he stepped out to meet with Anna.

My phone rang.

"Hey Stef," I answered.

"Anna took Elena last night," he said without preamble.

I kept my eyes trained on the female vampire outside. "Why am I just hearing about it now?"

"I've been busy searching every street in town. Damon was no help."

"Of course he wasn't, you and Elena seriously betrayed his trust." I hoped my annoyance transferred over the phone. "You know, he's not the villain you think he is."

"He killed people, Charlie."

"Well, he's a vampire. They tend to do that on occasion. You know all about that don'tcha, Steffy?" I added sarcastically. I could practically hear the jaw clenched in irritation over the phone.

"I don't have time for this, Elena is in trouble."

"I see Anna now, I'll go have a chat with her. You should see Sheila, I'm pretty sure Anna nabbed Bonnie too."

"Wait! Don't do anything stupid—" I heard as I ended the call.

I walked up to Anna just after Jeremy left. "Hi, Annabelle. It's been a hot minute since I've seen you."

Anna looked me over suspiciously, trying to place where we'd met. "Do I know you?"

"No, but I knew you and your mom, Pearl, a long time ago."

If she was surprised, Anna didn't show it. "I don't remember you."

"I had a different face back then," I replied. Anna did look surprised then.

Suddenly, Damon appeared. "Got a hot date, or are you planning on nabbing the entire Gilbert family?"

Anna's attention quickly turned to Damon. "A party, right next to the old cemetery. Isn't that nice of them? Lots of warm bodies for starving vampires."

"You don't have to kill or hurt anyone, Anna," I said.

She barely glanced at me, watching Damon methodically. "Not if Damon cooperates with me."

Damon leaned closer to me. "I told you. Application's are closed, the partner position is filled." I felt strangely prideful hearing Damon say that.

"Small problem," Anna said haughtily, "You're minus a witch and I'm minus a spell book. So, what do you say now?"

Damon shrugged, "I could always find another witch."

"No, you can't," I interrupted. I caught Anna's attention. "Maybe we can work something out, if you let Bonnie and Elena go."

"Here's the thing," Damon started, "our motives don't line up. I'm only going into this tomb for one reason and one reason only, to finally get revenge on Katherine, everyone else can go up in smoke for all I care."

"No," Anna said sharply. I could see the panic set in her eyes. "I'll kill Elena. I'm sure your brother would love that, especially when I tell him you could have prevented her death."

"You don't have to kill anyone!" I said loudly. Anna finally looked at me. "It's okay, Anna. We can do this together. You can get your mother back, but we _have_ to kill the other vampires. And you can't attack the Gilberts."

Anna eyed me suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Maggie, Annabelle. Remember me now?"

"Maggie?" Anna stared into my eyes, her eyes widened as she finally recognized me and then they turned to anger. "How can you tell me not to kill anyone and then go ahead and murder all those people just because they're vampires? You knew them."

"Yeah, well, turns out you and Pearl were the only ones I could stand," I said. "No one holds a grudge like a vampire. Damon's proof of that. You're proof of that. If we release all the vampire's in the tomb they'll kill the whole town in revenge."

Anna scoffed. "Maybe it's what they deserve."

"These people are not responsible for the past. I can offer the vampire's peace, but I can not let them go. Not when the lives of people I love are at stake. So you can get your mother and only your mother, no revenge plot, no harm to any of the Gilberts, or she can burn with everyone else." My phone dinged with a new message, I glanced at the notification. "And I would choose quickly, you just lost your bargaining chips."

"Bonnie and Elena?" Damon asked.

"Stefan," I answered.

Damon smirked at Anna. "Ah, brother. Ever the white knight."

Anna looked devastated.

"I can convince Bonnie to help," I said.

Damon snorted. "Good luck."

"Just, no more attacks," I added, "no more bloodshed."

"Unless it's vampire blood," Anna remarked bitterly.

"Please, Anna, it's the only way they'll open the tomb."

Anna crossed her arms over her chest. "And what happens if I don't agree and try to stop you?"

"Then it's going to get very hot for you." I reached out for her forearm, my hand already glowing a hot red. I barely touched her before she jerked back with a hiss, a small burn rapidly healing on her skin.

"I see your point," Anna acquiesced. "Fine, I won't lash out anymore."

A half hour later, I knocked on the door of Sheila's house. Stefan answered, but I ignored him as I rushed in. Bonnie and Elena were already there safe and sound.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay," I said as I enveloped them both in a hug.

"So what do we do now?" asked Elena.

"We need to let Damon in the tomb. He isn't going to stop until he gets what he wants," I suggested.

"If we help him, maybe that ends it," agreed Elena.

"I hate the thought of giving him anything he wants," Bonnie said spitefully.

"What he wants isn't so different from what we want," I said. "He wants Katherine dead, I think we can agree that's a good thing."

"And what of the other vampires in the tomb?" Bonnie asked.

"Damon agreed to kill them too," reminded Elena.

"Yeah, and then we double crossed him," Stefan said bitterly, "So now he's angry."

"He hasn't wavered on that," I said, "but I did promise Anna we'd let her mother out."

"What!" exclaimed both Bonnie and Elena.

"How could you promise anything to the girl that kidnapped us?" Bonnie said. I felt a twinge guilty, but I also felt righteous in my decision. Anna was just lost, not evil.

"She was only trying to protect someone she loves. Wouldn't you do the same?" I turned to Elena. "Isn't that why you were so willing to betray Damon in the first place?"

Elena had the decency to look ashamed.

"Besides, it doesn't matter if we don't have witches to break the spell. What do you say Shei?" I turned to Sheila.

Sheila shook her head. "Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to stay out of it. I'll open the tomb. You destroy the rest of the vampires with fire. Then this will be all over."

I smiled victorious. "Great, I'll go spread the good news."

Damon and I made it to the woods just after sundown. Teenagers were already milling about drinking and chatting. I'd almost forgotten how close we'd be to the party.

"Why did you need to bring a blood bag?" I asked as Damon stuffed a blood bag in his jacket next to a stake.

"It's for Katherine."

"Okay. Why does Katherine need a blood bag?"

"So I can see the look in her eyes when she realizes I've put a stake through her heart."

"Right, staking a desiccated corpse isn't as dramatic. Silly me, I forgot."

"Charlie, hey!" Matt called as he and Caroline walked up to us. I smiled as I saw them holding hands.

"Charlie! Where have you been?" Caroline asked, looking between me and Damon.

"Long story, no time to tell it," Damon said shortly.

Caroline glared at him. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Sure you were," Damon replied.

Matt held out his hand for Damon to shake. "We haven't met. I'm Matt."

"Matt, there's a reason we haven't met." Damon slung his arm around me and steered us away.

I glanced back at the couple, an apologetic look on my face. "Talk to you later!"

When everyone was out of sight Anna appeared next to us. "Alright, I'm here. This better not be a trap."

"We'll keep our end if you keep yours," I promised. "How's Jeremy?"

"Thinks I've stood him up."

"Good." I reached out to her. "Ready?"

She grabbed my hand. "Since 1864."

Damon whistled as we approached, the group turned to us. A mixture of distrust and distaste marred their expressions. Anna squeezed my hand so tightly she would have broken my hand if I was human.

"Brother. Witches," Damon greeted. He handed the grimoire to Sheila who stood in the middle of a circle of unlit torches set up around the tomb.

"Are we ready?" Elena asks.

"I guess so," Bonnie said unenthusiastically.

Stefan, Elena, Damon, and Anna watched from the steps of the tomb's entrance. Stefan was rooted between Elena and the two vampires. Bonnie and Sheila stood next to each other in the middle of the torches as I lit them.

"Air. Earth," Sheila said.

"Fire," I added, lighting the two torches on either side of the tomb door.

"Water," Bonnie continued. She held out a water bottle to Sheila, who sprinkled the water on the ground.

"That's it?" Elena said from her place on the steps, "just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?" Sheila smirked at her.

"I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something," Elena rambled.

"Ready?" Bonnie asked me. They needed me to undo the spell in lieu of Emily's pendant.

Bonnie and Sheila held hands from around me, so that I was standing between their arms. They shut their eyes and recited the spell.

After a few seconds, I could feel something happening, it was like a weight on my chest that made it hard to breathe. The torches flared up. The door to the tomb creaked open. Sheila and Bonnie stopped chanting and looked up, their arms falling back to their sides.

"It worked!" Bonnie sounded surprised.

Sheila smiled knowingly. "Of course it worked."

Anna grabbed a torch and vamp sped into the tomb.

Damon gestured toward me. "We have some fires to build."

I nodded back and waited by the door. He looked to Elena. "You ready?" He asked.

"What?" She asked, they hadn't discussed this part.

"Not happening," Stefan said, his arm covering Elena protectively.

Damon looked to Stefan and then to the witches. "You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?"

"If you take her in, I'll bring the walls down," Sheila threatened.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't."

"I'll be in there too, Damon," I reminded gently. "Do you think they'd trap me too?"

"I'm convinced you'd survive it and get out without me somehow. And they would know that."

"Enough." Elena said, pushing Stefan's arm out of the way. "All of you. Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go."

Elena stepped down into the ante-chamber, she was putting on a brave face, but her slight shaking gave her anxiety away. Damon grabbed a torch from the circle and stepped into the tomb. Elena and I followed.

The tomb was creepier than I thought it would be, dark and dank and covered in cobwebs. Elena's brave face was slipping the further into the tomb we went. Whispers from the mummified vampires echoed throughout the chambers in an unintelligible noise.

"What is that?!" Elena was practically shaking.

"It's the vampires," I said.

"They can sense you," Damon elaborated.

Damon was focused on finding Katherine among the vampires laid out in the tomb. I followed closely behind, helping him look for her. The corridors in the tomb were surprisingly long and numerous, there were a lot of alcoves Kat could have hid in.

"Where is she?" Damon asked to no one in particular, the universe maybe. "Where is she?"

It didn't look like Katherine was even there.

A scream rang out from another part of the tomb. I turned to see Elena wasn't with us anymore. I felt a little guilty I hadn't noticed when she got separated. I ran back to find her.

"Elena!" I called.

Anna's voice carried out to the rest of the tomb. "I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. Originally, it was going to be Jeremy but..."

I followed Anna's voice to their chamber. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast like a vampire. Elena screamed again. I entered the room they were in just as Anna was holding Elena's bloody wrist to Pearl's mouth.

"Stop!" I pushed Anna away with a surprising amount of strength and a little bit of fire. I turned to help Elena up. In the next moment Stefan was there blocking us from Anna.

"Go," he ordered. "Make sure she gets out safe. I'll be right behind you."

I nodded in response and ran with Elena outside. Bonnie and Sheila looked up from the grimoire as we stepped out.

"Elena, Stefan…" Bonnie sounded apologetic.

"He's right behind me," Elena turned around to see Stefan standing in the doorway. "Stefan, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly. Elena stepped up to the tomb door, the two sharing a moment.

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it," Bonnie promised. She was speaking to Elena who was still focused on Stefan.

"What did you do?" I accused looking between the two Bennet witches.

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just opened the door," Sheila explained.

"You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?" my voice cracked.

"I will protect my own. You and Elena got out. That's all that matters."

"No, it's not," I said, trying to rein in my anger. "We made a promise. I gave them my word."

"We can't leave him in there," Elena said from her place by Stefan. I was touched by her care for Damon. "We promised him. Both of us."

Stefan sighed. "I know."

"Even if we're able to break through the seal," Sheila said, "we won't be able to hold it for long."

"Channel me!" I suggested, "That'll make it easier on you wouldn't it?"

"You are a strong source of magic," Sheila agreed.

Stefan ran back into the tomb to get Damon.

Sheila and Bonnie each took one of my hands and started reciting the spell to lift the seal. The torches flared up and Elena stopped her pacing for a moment to look at the tomb.

"I think it's working," she said.

Anna, her clothes singed, exited the tomb while holding up a weak Pearl. "I'm sorry. I just wanted my mother back," she said to Elena. "Jeremy's fine. I won't touch him."

Then they were gone.

Sheila and Bonnie were still chanting to keep the seal down. Patches of orange light started to emit from my arms and hands, and I could feel it move up my chest and face covering me in a glow of orange hues.

Sheila looked at me concerned. "They better hurry," She told Elena.

"Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!" Elena shouted into the tomb.

Sheila and Bonnie have to let me go before I burn them.

"Can you hold it on your own?" I asked.

"For a little while more," Sheila answered.

I ran into the tomb, my way illuminated by my heated skin. When I reached them, blood splattered the walls and was seeping into the dirt. Damon punched the wall. Stefan was with him, desperately trying to get him to leave.

"It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside!" Damon yelled.

"If you don't get out of here _now_, you will burn with all the others." The heat was rising in me, the glow spreading and getting brighter with every second. I raised my hand, sparks and flames jumped from my skin as it moved. I was losing control.

In his anger, Damon stabbed his stake through the heart of the nearest desiccated vampire.

"Damon, please!" I cried, I didn't know how long I could hold off. Damon stared into my eyes, the fury I saw in him reflected the fire I was currently trying, and failing, to keep inside.

The Salvatore brothers left just as the fire inside me was unleashed. It spread throughout all the corridors of the tomb. When the fire died down there were only ashes around me. Soot covered me from head to toe, the fire had burned everything around me including my clothes.

The air outside cooled my bare skin as I exited the tomb. I fell to my knees in exhaustion. Sheila and Bonnie stopped chanting. The door to the tomb closed behind me and the torches died out.

Damon bent down in front of me and wrapped me in his leather jacket.

"I'm sorry," I said. My fire had burned out, but there was still a fury within Damon, I could see the light of it in his eyes.

He growled. "I should have expected it."

An hour later I was washed, wearing borrowed clothes from Bonnie and sitting in Sheila's font room. The older witch was sitting across from me.

"Thank you for tonight. I know it goes against everything you stand for as a witch."

"I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't intentionally do anything to harm this family. I just worry you care too much about the wrong people."

"You've become cynical in your age, Shei."

"I've become cautious," she corrected.

"Here you go, Grams," Bonnie placed a tray with two cups of tea on the coffee table. I picked one up and took a sip. "How are you doing?" Bonnie asked me. "That was a big spell; we borrowed a lot from you."

"Recovering." I looked at the two witches in front of me, taking in their matching tired looks. The color of their skin was duller and large circles hung under their eyes. "How are you both?"

"I'll live," Sheila said. She took a sip of her own tea.

"Nothing a good night's rest won't fix," Bonnie added.

I finished my tea at the Bennet's house and went home. Caroline was already back and asleep in her bed by the time I got home. The night had a few bumps, but as I watched my sister sleeping soundly, without the fear of another vampire attack on the horizon, I had faith this life was starting to look up.

"Hey, you're back," Caroline said groggily, turning toward me in her bed. "You never came back to the party."

"Yeah, Damon and I ended up somewhere else," I replied softly.

"Probably for the best, it was kinda lame this year anyway." Caroline shifted in her bed. "You like him don't you?"

There was no question about who.

"We're just friends."

"Uh-huh." Caroline rolled over, falling back asleep as soon as her head settled on the pillow.

"Sweet dreams," I said softly as I closed her door.

* * *

**A/N: Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, or Happy whatever you celebrate this time of year! And if I don't update before then, have a** **Happy New Year too! **


	15. Episode 15

**Episode 15 - The Fundraiser**

"_So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."_

F. Scott Fitzgerald_, The Great Gatsby_

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2010**

Damon had disappeared.

The day after we opened the tomb I went to our place, Maggie's gravestone. A bouquet of sunflowers had been laid atop the stone. There wasn't a note, but I knew they had to be from Damon and they had to be for me. Forget-me-nots were Maggie's favorite flower, but sunflowers were mine. I called Damon immediately, but all I got was his voicemail. I tried the boarding house and Stefan, but I knew before Stefan picked up that Damon had left town.

I must have left a dozen texts and messages for Damon that he never answered.

With the holidays coming up though, I didn't have much time to dwell on it. Caroline and I had to juggle the winter festival, spending time between two houses (in different states) and then celebrating with our friends as well.

On New Years Eve practically the whole town had gathered inside the Mystic Grill for the count down. I caught a glimpse of Damon seated at the bar, a glass of bourbon in his hand. Usually Damon carried himself with the kind of confidence that bordered on cocky and annoying, but he was slumped in the chair in a decidedly unsexy way and he looked tired and worn. I zigzagged my way through the crowd as quickly as I could, but there were more people than usual and it took me a while to reach the bar. By the time I reached his seat Damon had disappeared again. And he still hadn't replied to any of my messages.

* * *

**Italy, 1114 **

My hair was blonde like cornsilk in this life, and longer, touching my waist as I walked. As I walked through the castle I noticed that the hall was surprisingly quiet for that time of day. Usually I could hear the servants shuffling about doing their chores. I stopped, spotting a splatter of blood marring the wall and dripping onto the floor where it joined a sizable dark red puddle. My eyes followed the trail around the corner to the lifeless body of a maid.

I gasped, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. It was my handmaiden, a sweet young girl named Ciana. Her eyes were left wide open, so I closed them. More bodies of servants filled the blood lined corridor. My heart hurt with each face as I closed their lifeless eyes. I followed the carnage, not afraid like any sane person would be, but disappointed. The blood led me to a bedchamber.

It was a large room, blood splattered the walls and floor as well. In the middle of the room was a bed where two vampires were still feasting, sharing another young maid. On one side, the older blond vampire had his teeth in her neck, blood falling from the wound down the front of her dress. On her other side the younger, darker haired vampire had her wrist in his mouth. The blond vampire lifted his head as I entered, while the younger one moved up from her wrist tearing a new hole in her neck with his teeth. The girl was still alive, if barely, and her mouth opened as if to form a scream, but no sound came out.

Blood was still dripping from the blond's chin as he looked at me. In the blink of an eye he stood before me. His hand tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear before resting on my cheek. I nuzzled into his hand, my eyes sad.

"Hello, little bird," he said.

I removed the hand from my face, interlacing our fingers in a loose grip. "You've made quite the mess." I took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from his chin.

* * *

**Mystic Falls, 2010**

I woke up with a start. Turning over, my alarm clock read 4:30 am. I laid on my back, my arm covering my face and sighed. My dreams hadn't woken me up like that since the Salvatores first came to town. I couldn't remember the names of the men in my dream, I couldn't even remember what my name was at that time. All I could gather was that I was used to spending time with murderous vampires.

Feeling that it was too early in the morning to go back to bed I quietly went down to the kitchen with my dream notebook and wrote down what I could remember as the coffee brewed. It must have been hours before Caroline came bouncing into the kitchen looking more radiant than I could stand on less than five hours of sleep.

"You're too happy," I grumbled into my coffee.

Caroline smiled. "Someone was up late last night." She grabbed an orange from the fruit basket on our table.

"And up early," I said, sipping from my mug.

"I'm seeing Matt today," Caroline said as she peeled the orange.

"Should have guessed."

Our mom came in with a bundle of stuff under her arms, placing two rolls of tickets and a grey tin box on the table.

"Here are the raffle tickets and the cash box for the fundraiser. You remember what time to be at the Grill tonight?"

"Yes," Caroline and I chorused.

"We wouldn't forget the most important fundraiser of the year," I said.

"Speaking of the fundraiser," Caroline said, fluttering her lashes, "Which lucky bachelors are we pimping out this year?"

I snorted into my coffee mug.

"It's not pimping, legally speaking," Our mom said, barely able to keep a straight face. "A couple deputies, a plumber, and the new history teacher."

"Ric?" Caroline said, her eyes wide.

"How'd the founder's council rope Mr Saltzman into this?" I asked, thinking of the surprising vampire hunter.

"Well, it was all Jenna. We're still short one though, so if you can think of any eligible bachelors let me know."

"Good luck," Caroline said, grabbing her jacket as she headed for the door. "I got a date with my own bachelor."

"Things seem to be good with her and Matt," mom said casually. I knew Caroline didn't talk to our mom very much about her love life, but it didn't feel right to talk about it for her.

"Yeah, they are." I shrugged on my own jacket, I was planning on hanging out with Elena before the fundraiser.

"Where'd you get that jacket?"

I looked at the worn leather jacket I had on and nearly cursed. "It's Damon's actually. He let me borrow it and I've forgotten to give it back." I fiddled with the sleeve as a thought blossomed, it was a week into the New Year now and I hadn't heard a peep from Damon Salvatore. "I think I'll swing by the boarding house to return it today."

My mom suddenly looked like she had an idea herself. "You know, Damon would make a good bachelor for the auction."

"Oh, no, mom." I shook my head at the thought as I cleaned out my mug. "I don't think he'd be interested."

"Just ask him, as a favor for me, please."

"All right," I agreed, "but I can't be held responsible if he says no."

The boarding house was dark but _Black Hearts (On Fire)_ was blaring through the sound system. The Salvatore's always kept their house unlocked so I just walked in, unfortunately what I walked into was a group of sorority-looking girls dancing in just their underwear. Bite marks trailed up and down their bodies. Further into the house I found Damon with his teeth in another scantily clad young woman. My mind flashed back to the vampires sharing a maid. I forced down a shiver at the comparison and turned on the light.

Damon hissed dramatically, his eyes scrunched up. "No! Buzzkill!"

I walked up the landing and turned the music off.

Damon looked up at me blearily. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to return your jacket." I placed the piece of leather over the railing.

"Great." Damon smirked, wiping the drip of blood from his mouth. "Now turn the music back on."

I mimed considering. "No. We need to talk."

"Don't tell me you're breaking up with me." Damon stepped away from the girl he was eating and gestured broadly to the sorority girls around him. "Is it the Tri-Delts? Because they don't mean a thing to me. No offense, ladies," he added. The girls giggled around him.

I was less amused. "Where've you been, Damon?"

"Aw, did you miss me?" he teased.

"Just answer the question."

He shrugged. "Around."

"I can see that, you look wrecked." I walked down to his level. "What'd you do?"

"Oh, this, that, her," Damon nodded toward one of the college girls.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious." I stepped up to Damon, close enough to smell the liquor on his breath. "Plan A didn't work out. So what's Plan B? Or have you just been wallowing in defeat?"

"No. And no plan either." Damon stepped back and grabbed a bottle off the Salvatore bar. "You know, it's so liberating not having a master plan, because I can do whatever the hell I want." He took a sip of the whisky.

I stepped up to Damon again, the scent of alcohol even stronger now. My nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Is this the smell of liberation?"

"I get it. You're worried about me." Damon waved the bottle around as he spoke. "That's nice. Don't be. There's no need. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I spent the last 145 years with one goal: get in that tomb. I succeeded." Damon briefly stopped to tip some more whisky into his mouth. "Granted, Katherine wasn't in there to be staked, but why dwell?"

I put my hands on the bottle, stopping Damon from taking another drink.

"Did you look for her?"

"Oh, yes!" Damon swung the bottle out from under my hands as he moved around me. "And you know what I found? Nada, zilch. No one's seen her in decades and my witch contacts either refused or couldn't find her location. Katherine is _good_. The only way I'm gonna find her right now is if she knocks on my door."

I blinked. Processing. "So you're quitting."

Damon frowned. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted me to give up my revenge plot."

"I did—I do!" I took the bottle of whiskey out of Damon's hands before he could drink again. "But you're not okay Damon. You may have given up, but you're still thinking about her." Damon looked like he was about to object but I stopped him. "It's obvious this is affecting you. You know, what you need is a distraction." I placed the bottle back on the Salvatore's bar. I spun back towards Damon, as I suddenly remembered my mom's request. "And I've got just the thing! You see there's this fundraiser at the Grill tonight," I explained, "the Founder's Council is putting it on. They raffle off dates with the town's most eligible bachelors, and, well, they're short one." Damon didn't look pleased by the idea. "Please, as a favor to my mom? She's the one that wanted to ask you."

The corner of Damon's mouth twitched up. Not quite a smile, but we were getting somewhere.

"Is that what Liz does when she's not hunting vampires? Organize bachelor raffles?"

"Yes," I replied, as I waited on his answer.

"Well, then how could I refuse. You can tell Sheriff Forbes I'll be there."

"Thanks, I'll text you the details." It seemed it was time for me to go, but I was hesitant to leave. I looked around at the bitten girls hanging around the boarding house, chewing at my own lip in worry. Images of mutilated and bloodied bodies flashed through my head. "What's going to happen to them?"

"They'll end up in their dorm with headaches," Damon said, looking into my eyes, "think they blacked out. Business as usual."

I looked at Damon for a moment, assessing the truthfulness of his statement, and when I found that I did trust him to let those girls live I smiled. "See ya later, Damon."

I went to leave, but Damon grabbed me by the elbow. I turned back to see what he wanted. He stared at me for too long, his brow furrowed. It looked like he wanted to move closer or say something but he did neither. I stayed where I was and waited for him to figure it out.

"See ya later, Charlie." Damon let me go and turned back around.

The rest of my day was spent at home, trying to shake off Damon's bizarre behavior. I had had plans to hangout with Elena, but she texted that something had come up and that we'd meet for lunch. Caroline was supposed to spend the whole day with Matt, but I guess something happened there too because she texted for an emergency meeting. So around one o'clock I waited for both of them at the Mainline cafe.

While waiting, I tried calling Bonnie. After Christmas, Sheila took her on a road trip and they were still out of town. I got her voicemail. "Hey, Bon-Bon. It's Charlie. How's Salem? I miss you, don't let Sheila drive you nuts with all the witch history stuff."

Caroline settled into the booth beside me a moment later, shortly followed by Elena who sat opposite us.

Caroline leaned over the table to speak with us. "The most embarrassing thing just happened to me today," she started. "So Matt and I were making out on his couch, getting real steamy—"

"No details!" I said quickly. "Please?"

She huffed, but continued on. "And then his mom walked in."

"Kelly's back in town?" Elena asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Probably didn't work out with the last trucker boyfriend," I mumbled. I loved Matt to bits, but Kelly Donovan was far from my favorite person.

"We made eye contact while I was shirtless!" Caroline ranted on, her voice growing louder and more erratic. "I was mortified. And then he kicks me out—"

"Hold up," I paused Caroline. "I don't think Matt's mom coming home for the first time in months, and wanting some privacy to talk with her, was him _kicking_ you out. If anything Matt's probably the one who's mortified right now."

"Speaking of long lost mom's," Elena said, "I found out who my birth mother is."

"And you've just been letting me ramble on about Matt," Caroline said. "So when did this happen? How?"

"Jenna told me a few days ago, I've been looking for more information about her ever since."

Caroline hummed. "You have been lost in your own world for a while, I guess I know why now. So what have you found out?"

Elena smiled as she recounted. "Her name was Isobel, she was a cheerleader like I was." Her smile softened a little, before she continued. "And she was Ric's wife."

"Ric. Like our history teacher, Ric?" Caroline clarified, eyes wide.

I whistled slowly. "Small world."

"No, that's like some soap opera plot." Caroline paused as she realized something. "Wait, you keep saying was, like past tense, does that mean…"

"She's presumed dead. The victim of a cold case a few years ago."

"I'm sorry," Caroline reached out to grab Elena's hand. "It must be hard finding out she's dead after, you know…" Caroline didn't elaborate and Elena stayed quiet, looking down at their hands. "You know what we need? Cookies!" She stood up. "I'll go buy some."

Elena leaned in close once my sister was out of sight. "I visited one of Isobel's friends from high school, she knew about vampires."

My eyes widened. "Do you think Isobel might be…"

Elena shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. Jenna said they never found the body."

I snapped my fingers. "I just remembered! Mr Saltzman said his wife studied parapsychology and her research is what led him here. So it's definitely a possibility, especially since—"

"What's a possibility?" Caroline asked, sitting back down with a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Elena jumped away from me, looking more or less like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Oh, Uh, I was just telling Charlie that no one knows who my father is."

"And I suggested that maybe they just weren't willing to tell her," I lied.

"Oh, like a conspiracy theory." If Caroline noticed our shifty behavior she ignored it. "Maybe your dad was your birth dad all along and they were just covering up the scandal."

"Trust me, I thought about it," Elena said. "That's not it."

After lunch, Caroline and I had to help set up for the fundraiser, which looked exactly as it did every year we had volunteered for it. Caroline and I were stationed at the front of the restaurant and were taking turns selling tickets on the floor. Caroline had the first round, so I was the first to see Damon enter.

"You made it!" I smiled.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to disappoint Liz." Damon's eyes scanned the bar. "Speaking of, your mom here yet?"

"No, she's still on duty. She'll be here before the raffle though."

"Damon." Caroline glowered at him, her arms crossed. "Stop loitering around the ticket booth, we're trying to raise money."

"Don't you want the lovely women of this town to know the grand prize?" Damon winked at me. "Apparently I'm a very eligible bachelor."

Caroline scoffed and switched out the cash she had for change before heading back out to finish her rounds.

"She's right though," I said, "Hard to sell tickets if I'm occupied by you. Why don't you mingle, flirt around, that's what'll bolster sales."

Damon smirked. "Will do."

I watched Damon walk away. "Wait!" I added,"try to avoid Caroline."

Damon didn't act like he heard, but I knew he did.

I kept my eyes on Damon, even while running the ticket sales at the front. I was right that Damon was good for sales, he was hit on by woman after woman and then they'd buy more tickets from me or Caroline.

"Could you be any more obvious?" Caroline said, returning to the front. I hardly noticed her, my eyes still trained on Damon.

I shook my head to try to refocus on Caroline. "Sorry, what?"

She nodded back to where Damon and Carol Lockwood were speaking. "He's total cougar bait."

"Yeah, well you know what they say, 'sex sells,'" I said, holding up a bundle of the cash we'd made from the desperate housewives of Mystic Falls. I took up one of the ticket rolls and started my own rounds on the restaurant floor. I avoided looking at Damon as best I could, instead focusing on pushing out more raffle tickets. That didn't mean I missed the secret meeting between Damon and my mom in the corner.

My mom handed Damon a folder. I noticed Damon look between a page in the file and out to someone in the crowd. I turned my head in the same direction and caught sight of Mr Saltzman. Knowing this couldn't mean anything good I walked up to Damon as soon as my mom had left him.

"What are you scheming?"

"Nothing." Damon closed the folder with a snap of his wrist. "I told you, I'm doing whatever I want."

"Well, you've got something cooking." I smiled slyly. "Come on, you can tell me, we're partners."

"Correction, we _were_ partners, when I had a master plan. Now that I have no plan, I think I can cause enough chaos on my own."

"Yeah, see, it's that _chaos_ part that has me concerned." Damon moved to walk past me, but I grabbed his upper arm. "Just tell me one thing," I asked, "Isobel. Did you turn her?"

"What's it to you?" Damon shook me off and walked away. I didn't have the opportunity to talk to him again.

I stood with Caroline and Matt as Carol Lockwood introduced each of the bachelors.

"Number 4, 'Alaric Saltzman.' Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High," Mr Saltzman answered.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies," Mrs Lockwood said. "This one's a keeper. What do you teach?"

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy."

Mr Saltzman looked over at Damon. Damon placed his hand up to his ear, sarcastically anticipating a response. "Uh, well…"

Mrs Lockwood pulled the microphone away before he finished. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date." She moved down the line. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card," Damon said.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think—I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" Damon turned to look at Alaric, who looked back at him. "Yeah, 'cause I- I know your wife did." I looked to Elena, whose face was starting to falter. I mentally groaned, I knew I should have tried harder to talk to Damon about this. "I had a drink with her once." Damon continued. "She was—she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? Cause she was - Delicious." Damon hummed in delight.

I watched the tears well up in Elena's eyes at the implication and then she was out the door of the Grill. I would have gone after her, but Stefan beat me to it and I figured he'd do a better job of comforting her than I would. As soon as the bachelors were let off the stage I stormed up to Damon.

My hands clenched and unclenched at my sides as the anger and bravado left me.

Damon looked at me confused.

"This is all my fault," I finally said, "I know somehow I should have seen this coming. I brought you here, hoping to distract you. And I knew Mr Saltzman was going to be here. And Elena. I hoped you wouldn't bring it up, but you just had to do it, didn't you? You just couldn't leave Mr Saltzman alone. Complete disregard of how your words might affect other people."

"Am I missing something here?" Damon asks, "What's this to do with Elena?"

I took a deep breath, calming down. "I'm sorry. I forgot to mention. Isobel was Elena's birth mother." Damon's face falters. "So I think you should apologize to her."

Damon walked straight outside to see Elena.

I spent the rest of the fundraiser at Caroline's side. At the end, Kelly walked over to us to claim her prize: bachelor number three.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Donovan," Caroline said politely.

"Okay, just stop," Kelly Donovan said. "Stop trying so hard. This thing you're doing, this nice thing, it's fake. Like you. Like your mom." I scowled at the affront to my family. Caroline's smile dropped, but she maintained her polite composure. "And for some reason, Matt fell for it, but that doesn't mean that I will. I don't like you, okay? So tell plumber boy I'll be at the bar."

"Okay," Caroline said, her voice hollow.

Kelly walked off. Caroline's facade faded and she looked hurt. I wrapped my arm around her.

"What a bitch," I said. Caroline looked at me. "What? I'm not dating her son."


End file.
